


Apples and Custard

by thelastsock



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, CPR on a character, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, F/M, Inspired by Music, Light Angst, Major Character Injury, More accurately my spotify playlist, Not Beta Read, Not Canon Compliant, Potential drowning, Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-10
Updated: 2020-06-20
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:15:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 22,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24111166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thelastsock/pseuds/thelastsock
Summary: Amy Pond and her Raggedy Man. The Doctor and his Pond. The story starts just after the events of Eleventh Hour and each chapter is inspired by a different song. No Rory or River Song apart from brief mentions.(Mild Death warning: drowning & resuscitation in Chp 4)Latest Chapter:"The journey back didn't seem to half as arduous despite much ducking and weaving through the streets, taking detours over and around upturned trees. It wasn't until she came across an accidental archway made of a lorry and an ice cream truck that groaned gently in a light breeze, that she'd realised that some backup power was online as there was the odd streetlamp alight here and there that hadn't been smashed up or ripped out of its place in the pavement to provide her with some light. The insanely strong winds had now stopped too, leaving an eerie silence in their wake, punctuated only by the odd police siren in the distance."
Relationships: Eleventh Doctor & Amy Pond, Eleventh Doctor/Amy Pond, The Doctor & Amy Pond (Doctor Who)
Kudos: 9





	1. The Reason for Waiting

**Author's Note:**

> Cross-posted from my ancient FF.net account here: https://www.fanfiction.net/~thelastsock
> 
> I started this around 6 years ago and have recently picked it back up so I'l be updating on both sites as I hopefully finish more chapters. I've not edited this since I originally posted it way back when so please excuse any terrible writing, hopefully I've improved!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song inspo for this chapter: The Reason – Hoobastank

_Goodbye Leadworth! Hello everything!_

With a small ‘Ok’ and a glance over her shoulder at the mysterious man, Amy had agreed to travel with the Doctor. Even though she probably, no definitely thought he was a madman with a box! 

Amy walked around the central console beaming; she glanced up at the roof as she walked up the stairs, to what she presumed was the rest of the TARDIS. She wondered just how it all managed to fit inside the small police box. The Doctor meanwhile, took the TARDIS to the Time Vortex while Amy decided their first destination. Deep in thought, Amy turned and sat on the stairs facing the console room, watching the Doctor at work and examining the stairs beneath her feet. The TARDIS was now resting comfortably in the Time Vortex but the Doctor faced the console, his back to Amy and a frown upon his face.

 _Amy Pond, the girl who waited. You’ve waited long enough._

He wanted to say something to prove to her he hadn’t meant to leave her behind for so long. He hated the haunted look in her eyes when she’d told him that he was late. He knew what it was to be alone. He cleared his throat and glanced at Amy, who looked away from the railing that she’d been examining to face him.

"I’m not perfect." He said quietly, turning towards her. "I never meant to leave you that long." The smile faded from Amy’s face as she remembered how lonely and angry she’d felt after no-one had believed her Raggedy Doctor was real. The Doctor started speaking faster in an effort to get his apology out before Amy got any angrier at him, he could see her expression getting stonier by the second.

"New body and a brand new TARDIS. A bit exciting, got a little carried away." He bowed his head and glanced at her from under his mop of hair, trying to read her expression, as she started to fiddle with the hem on her nightie. ‘Pond, I’m so sorry that I hurt you.’ He finished in a rush, desperate to get this part over with. But to his surprise, no Scottish accent filled the room demanding to know why it had been so long. Instead, he was greeted with silence. This wasn’t good, this wasn’t good at all. 

Amy was staring at her hands in her lap, not noticing that the Doctor was looking at his feet, waiting for her reply. She’d wanted to escape Leadworth so much in her early teens that she’d tried to run away more than once. But she never got any further than the end of her long garden, where she’d stare at the spot where she had first met the Doctor and wish he was there to take her away. It was always Rory who had found her a while later sitting behind the new garden shed with her rucksack full of the drawings and models of the Doctor with tears on her face. 

"Amy" The Doctor said gently, interrupting her thoughts. "Please say something." She sniffed and suddenly he was there by her side, reaching over to embrace her in his arms. They sat on the glass staircase for a small while, just listening to the TARDIS engines hum. Then Amy pulled away from the Doctor and gave him a smile, before leaping down the stairs and enthusiastically pressing buttons and flipping switches on the console. 

"What does this button do?"

"Can you teach me to fly the TARDIS?" The Doctor sighed and walked over to Amy, grabbing her wrist as she went to press one of the bigger buttons that almost certainly would have destroyed _something_ on the TARDIS. "That button, Amy Pond, might cause the TARDIS shields to deactivate and rip her apart, or at the very least burn toast and nobody likes burnt toast!" The Doctor laughed.

He looked at her disappointed expression and smiled gently. "But I do know the perfect place for your first trip!" the Doctor exclaimed. He began bounding around the console and undoing Amy’s actions; suddenly he stopped and leaned around the time rotor to look at Amy.

"On one condition Pond." he added and went back to pressing buttons. "What condition Doctor?" Amy asked, frowning, as she peeped around the time rotor trying to look at him.

"That you’ll let me take you to more amazing places after this to make up for lost time! It has to be amazing!" the Doctor exclaimed, wrenching the last lever down and sending the TARDIS to its destination, with the noise that Amy had dreamt of since she was a little girl. 

Amy took a deep breath and unleashed a torrent of questions that had been bugging her since she saw the TARDIS.

"Why is it a phone box?"


	2. Lightning Strikes Twice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The adventure begins! First stop - an alien planet!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This adventure is split into 3 parts as is the song!   
> Song inspo: The Lightning Strikes (I) –Snow Patrol

The Doctor opened the TARDIS doors with a flourish, ‘Here we are Pond, just like I promised! The planet of Eguraldia, they have the most amazing cultural history of any of the planets in this system. Eguraldians base their entire existence on the extraordinary weather patterns and the seasons, especially autumn…’ But Amy wasn’t listening anymore; she was gazing at the beautiful scenery that the TARDIS had landed in. 

They appeared to be on top of a hill, under a blue sky with deep green grass as far as Amy could see, but the knee high grass was unlike any she had ever seen before. As she took a few steps outside the TARDIS, it moved as if in on a windy day, rippling with many different colours around her feet. She felt the heat beat down on her as she left the shadow of the TARDIS, and took off her jacket, slinging it over her shoulder as she went. Mesmerised by the grass, Amy took a few more steps until she bumped into the Doctor who was standing in front of her, not even breaking out a sweat and herself quite a way from the TARDIS.

‘So Pond, what do you think?’ He asked, a grin plastered across his face, full well knowing Amy was lost for words, something which barely happened on the TARDIS and something that the Doctor took great delight in causing. 

‘I… It’s beautiful Doctor’ Amy finally managed to blurt out as the Doctor stood there, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet, grinning at Amy from under his fringe.

‘Well it’s not over yet, Amy! The Festival of Hours is not to be missed, which is over in… that direction.’ Said the Doctor as he spun round and finally pointed off to the left of the TARDIS to some white tents Amy hadn’t noticed, before striding off in that direction.

‘Wait Doctor! Festival of Hours? DOCTOR!’ Amy cried, striding after him, slightly annoyed but enjoying the gorgeous colours that were left in his wake. He turned back to Amy, hearing her yell his name. 

‘Keep up Pond, we don’t want to miss any of it!’ he said as she caught up to him. But her retort along the lines of wandering off without her was drowned out by the sudden rumble of thunder across the plain. The sky had dimmed to a grey colour; the grass too seemed to lose its vibrancy and colour, seeming a plain grey as the storm clouds rolled over the pair.

‘Ah.’ the Doctor said ‘That’s very not good.’ Amy looked at him questioningly.

‘Last time I was here, the rain that followed was poisonous to humans.’ The Doctor added sheepishly.

‘Great!’ Amy cried, looking up at the now almost purple sky ‘First beautiful planet we visit and the rain is poisonous! I’m heading back to the TARDIS before I get poisoned.’ She stomped further back up the hill as lightning flashed across the sky and the grass beneath her feet rippled with an orangey gold light. From this distance the Doctor thought Amy’s hair looked almost golden under the dim light, shimmering like all the timelines he saw in his mind, so many planets last moments and beginnings of new stars swimming around in his head. It was no wonder he forgot simple things like the location of his umbrella. 

‘Where is it? I now it’s in here somewhere… I swear I put it in the same pocket as the psychic paper!’ The Doctor mumbled, rummaging in his pockets before pulling out a dark blue umbrella. 

‘Amy! Come back here, you’ll never make it back to the TARDIS in time!’ Doctor shouted over more roars of thunder. Sure enough as Amy glanced over her shoulder to glare at the Doctor, she could hear the rain falling behind her. Afraid at what the rain would do to her, she turned and ran as fast as she could back to the Doctor, slipping just in front of him and ending up in a messy pile at his feet on the grass.

‘Pond, Pond, Pond. What am I ever going to do with you?’ He said, pulling her up to her feet and popping open the umbrella just as the rain hit them. He handed Amy the overly large umbrella, motioning for her not to move and reached into his jacket for the sonic screwdriver and scanned the rain around them. Amy sighed as she stood holding the umbrella, wondering how long this rain was going to last. The Doctor looked up from the screwdriver, to see Amy looking up at umbrella, mistaking it for a look of interest.

‘Good umbrella this one, I actually got it on Earth – far in your future mind you, around the 5400 I think. It can expand to cover any number of people needed, rather like those marquee things you lot insist on putting up for weddings!’ He said leaning over to take the umbrella from her and used the sonic screwdriver on it to show her. Suddenly the umbrella shrunk, causing Amy and the Doctor to huddle closer under the umbrella.

‘Ah.’

‘Doctor, you really can be an idiot sometimes.’

‘Perhaps, on occasion I am, maybe, well yes…’ the Doctor mumbled and Amy laughed; he really did look rather cute when he was embarrassed. The Doctor, trying to hide his embarrassment and ignore Amy’s laughter, he turned on the spot and scanned the rain again, causing Amy to shuffle closer to the Doctor again to prevent herself getting wet and possibly poisoned.

‘Do you mind Pond? I’m busy trying to analyse the chemical composition of the rain here!’ the Doctor said agitatedly as he turned slightly towards Amy and jumped in surprise on seeing her much closer than he was expecting.

‘Oi! Do  _ you _ mind not shoving me out into the rain?’ Amy replied loudly, grabbing the umbrella; unfortunately it was the Doctor’s ear that bore most of Amy’s rage. Glaring at Amy, he rubbed his sore ear and put the sonic screwdriver away.

‘Well I have good news  _ Amelia _ .’ The Doctor said, a big grin swiftly appearing on his face, knowing her full name would annoy her. ‘It seems since I was last here, the Eguraldians have managed to change the poisonous content of the rain. Or the rain hasn’t turned poisonous yet…I forget. Everything gets confusing with all this wibbly wobbly, timey wimey stuff.’ The Doctor finished, gesturing with his hands the wibbly wobbly nature of time. 

‘All that worrying for nothing? Couldn’t the TARDIS have told you about that  _ before _ we stepped outside?’ Amy replied angrily ‘And don’t call me  _ Amelia! _ ’

‘Ah, well… yes. But where’s the fun in that?’ the Doctor said happily, a cheeky smile lighting up his face. In spite of herself, Amy felt herself returning the smile, her anger abating for the moment. The Doctor reached outside the umbrella and let the rain puddle in his hands, looking thrilled as it filled rapidly, as the rain had now become a downpour outside the umbrella. To Amy’s surprise he then brought his hands up to his mouth and drank the rainwater collected there. 

‘Just as I thought, Fish Fingers and Custard!’ the Doctor whooped ecstatically. ‘Go on Amy, you try it! It’s amazing!’ 

‘You’ve got to be joking! No way am I drinking Fish Custard water!’ Amy replied indignantly, turning her back to the Doctor. A few seconds later, Amy felt a drip on her head, and looked up to find the Doctors hands full of water again, poised just over her face. Before Amy could react, the water was unceremoniously dumped over her face.

Spluttering, Amy turned to scowl at the Doctor with water dripping down her face. He quickly regretted his earlier decision, as Amy took a step towards him, wiping the water off her face. The Doctor began to fear for his life when he saw the look in Amy’s eyes that clearly said she was going to strangle him with his bowtie. She came to an abrupt stop and her eyes widened. 

‘The rain tastes like Apples? ’ She exclaimed, not caring that the umbrella had slipped in her grasp, the rain soaking their legs. And again Pond was near speechless; the Doctor was rather starting to like this planet! 

‘Really, you taste Apples? I would have thought it would be something like chocolate. All girls like you…’ Amy glared at the Doctor. ‘…I mean in answer to your half formed question Pond, the composition of the rain on this planet contains harmless chemicals that react with your taste buds to give you the taste of your favourite food. So yes, Apples.’ He finished, beaming.

A devious smile crept across Amy’s face, as she stepped towards the Doctor again; throwing the handful of water he hadn’t noticed her collecting in his face. She laughed out loud at the expression on his face before dropping the umbrella and running away at full pelt into the rain. 

_ All of time and space; everywhere and anywhere; every star that ever was. Where do you want to start? _

Amy stopped, chest heaving, to catch her breath and was struck but the quietness around her in-between rolls of thunder. She stood with her face tipped up to the skies and closed her eyes, seeing the flashes of lightning shine through her eyelids. She let the rain run over her face, the taste of Apples overwhelming her. She still couldn’t believe she was here, with the Doctor on a planet that was millions of miles from home, with multi-coloured grass and rain that tastes like your favourite food. This was definitely worth the wait.

A strong grip on her hand and an abrupt change of direction indicated that the Doctor had caught up with her and seemed to be intent on making her dizzy as he spun her to face him. Amy pulled the Doctor round and round in a circle, holding onto both of his hands, deciding that if she was dizzy, the Doctor should be dizzy too. As they spun, another flicker of lightning crossed the sky, illuminating the grass below their feet. The Doctor looked across at Amy, she reminded him of the good parts of the universe; all those tiny little moments that made life worth living, seeing the wonder and excitement of new planets and experiences through her eyes made him appreciate it anew. He hadn’t felt this free, this happy in a long while. Deep in his train of thought, he lost his footing on the slippery grass and landed on the ground with a thud, pulling Amy with him.

The Doctor glanced over at Amy, who was looking a little shocked; his face was probably the same picture of confusion and surprise at the sudden change in height. Within seconds they were both laughing hysterically, tears pouring down Amy’s already soaked face and the Doctor struggling to breathe, despite his Time Lord biology. 

Several minutes passed before they noticed that the rain had stopped; the sun having weakly reappeared in the sky. Amy sat up and shivered, realising she dropped her jacket somewhere in amongst all the running and the heavy rain. 

‘You look cold Pond.’ The Doctor took off his jacket and placed it on her shoulders. ‘Mind you, it’s my favourite jacket so you’d better look after it.’ He added with a smile on his face before standing up. He turned to help Amy up but stopped with his hand outstretched towards her. 

‘It’s dry! How can your jacket be dry?’ Amy asked oblivious to the Doctor’s hesitation as she stood up. ‘Look at me, I’m soaked!’ She added, gesturing to herself.

Amy’s cheeks quickly went red as she realised that her white t- shirt had become mostly see through from the rain and the outline of her bra could be seen through it. She gathered the Doctor’s jacket around her and strode off towards the TARDIS, her flame red hair streaming out behind her. It was just a little uphill from where the Doctor still stood, the tips of his ears a sympathetic pink. He slowly turned, and headed off to find her jacket, straightening his bow tie as he went. He found it a short distance away from the TARDIS, crumpled and soaking wet and hurried back to the TARDIS with it, hoping that Amy wasn’t in the console room when he got there. He had no idea what he would do if she was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh dear! Whatever is the Doctor going to do?


	3. Sunlight and Moonlight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song Inspo: Snow Patrol – Sunlight through the flags (II)

As the Doctor entered the TARDIS, he squeezed his eyes shut. When he opened them a few seconds later, he breathed a sigh of relief as he saw only Amy’s shoes strewn haphazardly across the floor in front of him. Looking up, he noticed her tights hanging from the railings around the console. As he walked towards the console he noticed the trail of clothes leading off into the TARDIS. Picking up the tights, he gingerly walked in the direction of the clothes, picking them up as he went. He turned the corner and picked up the last item of clothing he could see and the Doctor blushed for a second time that day as he picked up that bra.  
Holding it out in front of him like it was a bomb about to go off he walked quickly towards Amy’s room.

‘Amy?’ he called ‘You there?’ It came out as a hoarse whisper; the Doctor cleared his throat and continued ‘Amy? I’ll just leave your clothes outside your door. Meet you in the console room when you’re done!’ And with that he unceremoniously dumped the clothes in heap at her door and almost ran back to the console room, collecting his second favourite tweed jacket from the wardrobe as he went.  
Moments later, Amy padded in the console room fully dry, only a faint trace of her previous flushed face remaining.

‘Ready to go?’ The Doctor asked from his position leaning against the console.

‘Sure we’re not going to encounter actual poison rain or creatures that want to kill us?’ Amy replied, walking over to the TARDIS doors to retrieve the shoes she’d thrown over there earlier and made a face as she picked the slightly damp shoes up and pulled them on.

‘Oh you’ll love the festival Pond, trust me. Once the rainbow appears in the sky, the festival really begins and you don’t want to miss any of it!’ The Doctor exclaimed, moving towards the TARDIS doors. 

As they stepped outside into the sunshine, Amy was struck again by the beautiful view, the mesmerising grass and the tiny white tents further down the hill. She walked around the side of the TARDIS and noticed a somewhat hazy red area off in the distance.

‘That’s Rasperia Ocean, the only sea in Eguraldia and is where the festival begins.’ said the Doctor as he came up behind Amy, looking over her shoulder at the view. ‘Now let’s get down to those tents and introduce ourselves to the locals.’ The Doctor continued, extending his hand to Amy. She took his hand and they made their way down the hill, leaving a trail of exotic colours in their wake.

As they approached the nearest of the white tents, they noticed the hustle and bustle around the tents, the sounds of talking and laughter floating around them. One of the nearby locals saw them on the outskirts of the tents and walked towards them. He looked human, Amy thought, apart from the 3 fingered hands that he held out as he came to stand in front of them. 

‘Welcome strangers! Are you here for the festival of Hours?’

‘Indeed we are good man!’ the Doctor replied, shaking the man’s hand vigorously while Amy nodded politely behind him. 

‘I’m the Doctor and this is Amy.’

‘Call me Ermon.’ He smiled warmly at Amy. ‘The festival will begin soon; I’ll take you to the shores of Rasperia where celebrations start.’ 

With that Ermon led them through the throng of people and joined the streams of people now heading from the tents towards the shore. Amy noticed each of the tents had a small flag above the door of the tent with a different swirling pattern on it. She turned to the Doctor to ask him to find him a short way ahead, looking at the scenery where the tents were thinning out and more grassy fields and a well-trodden path came into view. As the procession of people and Amy caught up with the Doctor, he slipped back into the crowd, next to Amy. 

‘Are those patterns their language?’ She whispered, pointing to the various flags that were dotted around the few tents that dotted their path down to the edge of the ocean.

‘Yes and no. That flag represents health, but it’s more like a symbol or picture. So the TARDIS can’t translate it for us.’ The Doctor suddenly clapped his hands together in glee as Rasperia came into view and began walking faster. Amy shook her head and jogged to catch up with him.

Soon they had reached the shore; hundreds of people were already standing in the shallows, letting the deep ruby red water lap around their legs. Amy took off her shoes and giggling a little, she splashed her way into the sea. Turning, around she beckoned to the Doctor to join her. He couldn’t resist the happy look on her face and the chance to paddle in a sea that wasn’t blue. Well it could be blue, or orange or silver or any colour really, the sky and the light coming in could reflect…

‘Come on Doctor’ Amy yelled. ‘It’s gorgeous!’ 

The Doctor broke out of his reverie and stripped off his boots and socks, rolling up his trousers to reveal rather pale, knobbly knees. To which Amy supplied more giggles as the Doctor walked up to her and stood next to her in the sea. As they stood there, more people gathered at the water’s edge and the sky quickly turned darker, until Amy could no longer see her hand in front of her face.

‘I thought you said there would be a rainbow Doctor?’ Amy asked turning slightly in the shallows to the patch of darkness that contained him.

‘Patience, Pond’ he replied out of the blackness and moved to put his hand on Amy’s shoulder. ‘Should be any moment now.’

Suddenly, as if waiting on the Doctor’s command, a bright light shot up into the sky and arched over their heads, splitting into millions of colours as it went. It sparkled like the stars but contained every conceivable colour and some even the Doctor didn’t recognise.   
Amy looked around in amazement, seeing all the people’s faces lit up by the beautiful colours in the sky, looking over at the Doctor; she noticed the joy on his face as he gazed upwards. The Doctor glanced over at her, momentarily looking a little surprised before quickly smiling at her and turning back to the sky, indicating for her to do the same.  
The rainbow began to fade to a pale gold and spread outwards towards the edges of the horizon, lighting up the beach brighter than before, Amy blinked and suddenly the sky was blue again, with the sun beating down on her bare arms. She turned to find herself alone in the shallows, most of the previous occupants now heading up the beach to where a bonfire looked like it was being set up. She trudged up the beach to find the Doctor, gathering her shoes and tights as she went. 

The Doctor was sitting cross legged in the sand a few metres away from where bonfires were being set up, happily scanning bugs and bits and pieces around him with his sonic screwdriver until Amy’s shadow fell over him, shortly followed by his face being full of red hair as she glanced at what he was pointing his screwdriver at. 

‘Ah, there you are Amy. Was wondering when you’d finish paddling in the ocean! They’re about to build a beach bonfire!’ Amy shook her head at his impatience as they joined the line of people passing wood down from the hill onto the beach to the massive pile that was quickly formed. 

Exhausted, they collapsed onto the now cooling sand as the sun set properly this time and recognised Ermon among those throwing lit torches onto the pile of wood until it was soon blazing with heat. Shuffling closer to the fire, they sat side by side, sipping from small cups that had been given to them while they sat. 

‘It tastes kinda like good old tea mixed with some honey!’ Amy exclaimed after her first sip. 

‘It’s actually made from several different herbs that only grow on this planet. The drink is said to bring luck for the next season if drunk before sunrise.’ Doctor explained, draining his cup. Amy pulled a face at him and continued drinking from her cup, enjoying the warm drink on the cold beach and the music now drifting over to her from somewhere beyond the fire. Amy had finished the remainders of her cup and placed it down in the sand when she heard rhythmic voices chanting from the other side of the fire instead of the gentle music and laughter but she struggled to concentrate. She began to feel lightheaded, her vision full of dancing orange flames. She felt the Doctor’s hand on her shoulder and her name before blackness consumed her.

The Doctor held the unconscious Amy in his arms, shouting her name and then to the Eguraldians around him to help, all while pulling out his sonic screwdriver to scan her. He squinted at the readings on his sonic, bringing them closer to his face as he kneeled on the sand. Fumbling to put the sonic back into his pocket, he stood again, Amy sliding off his lap into the sand. He felt anger burn through his veins that they would drug her, before he too passed out cold and fell backwards into the sand.


	4. The Break of Dawn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Final part of the Snow Patrol trilogy on the planet Eguraldia. What happened after they passed out?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song inspo: Snow Patrol - Daybreak (III)

The Doctor groaned, his head was thumping and throat was dry. He hadn’t been this bad since the banana daiquiri incident a few centuries ago! As he lay there attempting to get his head on straight, he felt a coldness seep up his trouser leg, he frowned and attempted to sit up straight. As he shifted his hand plunged into something shockingly cold. The Doctor’s eyes were suddenly wide open, blinking he attempted to look around him in the semi darkness for something or anything to tell him where he was. 

Glancing upwards he could just see the moon, peeking through one of the slats in what he now realised was a wooden box. From the cold water lapping around his legs and a quick taste he determined he had been put in the sea and at his best guess, near the high tide mark.

Was it the light or was the water getting higher? Yes, it was definitely getting higher; the water was now at his waist. Standing up he collided painfully with the lid of the box. Cursing loudly he rubbed his head and was muttering to himself about not being used to places that were so small on the inside; he had a nagging feeling he was missing something.

However, he ceased his muttering when he heard someone yelling his name. 

‘Doctor! Doctor, is that you?’ Amy’s panicked voice drifted over to him from a small distance away.

‘Amy! Are you alright?’

Amy had awoken with a jolt a few moments before when cold water had dribbled down her back, replacing any fuzzy thoughts with pure panic. She had tried to reach out into the darkness with her hands before the bottom of her stomach dropped out when she realised that her hands had been tied to cold, rusty, metal loops on the sides of the box, attempting to move her feet only caused her to panic more as she realised she couldn’t move at all. She was lying at a slight angle and could feel the cool water pooling at her feet, straining against the bonds in panic had given Amy more scrapes and bruises than ways out.

‘Just get me out of here!’ she yelled, her voice getting shakier and more Scottish by the second. 

The Doctor searched frantically around the box for something, anything to get them out of the dire situation they found themselves in, with water splashing up around his knees now. Now he was definitely sure he was missing something else, but what? 

‘Just stay calm Amy; I’m coming to get you as soon as I can!’ The Doctor hated not knowing what to do, but forced that feeling away and focused on the problem. There had to be a way out.

After another tour around the box and the seawater creeping a little bit higher, he realised what the nagging feeling in his gut was, each time he had thrown himself around the box, the box itself hadn’t moved. Now he wasn’t huge but the Doctor had thought it would move a little by now, he moved around the box with more purpose, noticing that the fast fading moonlight only shone through the top of the box, despite feeling gaps in the wooden planks that made up the box. The sudden splash of water from above only confirmed his suspicions; the box had been partially buried in the sand.

‘Doctor, hurry up! The water is getting higher; it’s nearly up to my waist! There goes another good skirt!’

Despite the situation, Amy had chosen this moment to complain in a loud voice to the Doctor about how this was the second time today she was drenched and her clothes were ruined. The Doctor didn’t mind her complaining, even with a headache, it told him that he still had time. He’d been using the time while Amy was complaining to hammer his way through the top of the box with a random assortment of items he’d found in his pocket that were now floating around his arm pits after making a small crack in the wood.

‘Now Amy, I’m not gonna be able to talk to you for a couple of minutes. Don’t panic, I’ll be back soon.’ The Doctor said with a calm voice but he knew if he didn’t sort this out soon, neither of them would be able to talk.

With that he took a deep breath and lay on his back underwater in the box and kicked upwards with all his strength. For a brief moment he feared that his foot was stuck in the splinters as a blinding pain shot through his ankle but it pulled free and the Doctor quickly righted himself and gingerly hoisted himself out of the box until he lay face first on the sand, breathing heavily. 

Amy flinched as sea water dripped on her face; she could taste the salt on her lips and wondered how long the box would last before quickly pushing the thought out of her mind. She could hear nothing outside except the regular beat of the waves on the edges of the box, no Doctor, no tell-tale rambling to show that her Doctor was ok and coming for her like he promised. She gritted her teeth and wrenched as hard as she could on the ropes holding her in place. She winced as the rope cut further into her skin and the salt water rushed back over her hands into the fresh wounds but felt a flash of hope as her hand almost came loose. 

The Doctor heard Amy’s muffled escape attempts and pulled himself up to look across the familiar beach and what he saw made his blood run cold. The moonlight moved across the sea sprayed surface of the hauntingly beautiful, highly polished chest in front of him. It was covered in more of those symbols, portraying sacrifice and fertility along with seasons and the sea, all decorated in oranges and reds. Silently he cursed himself for letting Amy come to harm again and hoped he wasn’t too late as the sea had already claimed all but the top third of the chest. He limped across the beach towards her, each step seeming to take age to complete without the distance becoming any shorter. The Doctor quickened his pace, keeping his eyes trained on the chest and doing his best to ignore the pain radiating up his leg.

‘Well this is it. Last chance. Do or die.’ Amy muttered to herself as the water crept up to her neck. She had managed to get one arm free and was almost free of the second but was running out time. Amy pulled her second arm free and took a deep breath, trying not to think that it might be her last. She tried to reach to her feet to untie them and bust her way out but her fingers merely brushed the ropes at her ankles, unable to reach any further. Straightening up she realised there was no longer any air left in the box and forced herself not to panic and let go of the precious air left in her lungs. After what seemed all too shorter time, with her lungs screaming for air, she felt the darkness overwhelm her for a second time as the last bubbles escaped her lips. 

Doctor landed heavily in shallows near the box which was now only poking out between the waves. His brain moved at the speed of light, thinking of all the possible ways to free Amy from the sacrificial chest. He waded through the shallows, pulling his sonic screwdriver out of his pocket and jumped headfirst in the ocean. In the light of dawn, he could just make out the edges of the chest under the water and held out the screwdriver, frantically scanning. He surfaced, treading water, squinting at the readings. The chest was mostly wood but perhaps he could use the inlaid metal patterns to his advantage. Diving back under the freezing water, he pointed the sonic at the largest metal swirl closest to him. It seemed like an eternity until the metal popped, causing the wood to splinter around him, finally freeing Amy from the chest.

As he surfaced, a sickening sight greeted him as Amy’s deathly pale face broke the surface of the water, her bright hair flowing out around her head like a halo. Spurred on by the decision that he wasn’t going to let Amy down ever again, he held her tight, pulling her out of the chest and struggled to the shore with her, fear clutching at his heart.

Soaking wet and gasping for air that just wouldn’t reach his lungs, he gently placed Amy on the sand near the shore. As dawn broke, the Doctor began to resuscitate his Pond, praying with each second that passed that she would come back to him. It was entirely his fault that she was clinging to life with such a small thread. He should have known that the Eguraldians would see Amy’s radiant red hair as a suitable sacrifice, it even stared him in the face when her hair shone under the rainbow. Yet, the bumbling fool that he was, he was too preoccupied to notice.

Moments passed and he heard the most beautiful sound he thought he would ever hear, Amy breathing and then coughing the water out of her lungs. He reached over and brushed her hair away from her face, holding her face in his hands and his eyes never leaving her face. When Amy regained her breath, she gestured for the Doctor to come closer, close enough to hoarsely whisper into his ear. 

‘Do me a favour Doctor.’ 

‘Anything you like Pond.’ The Doctor smiled down at her, relief washing over his features.

‘Let’s not go near water for a while ok?’ 

The Doctor chuckled gently at her words and carefully stood up. With each other’s help they made it back up the hill to the TARDIS where they watched the golden sun rise over the horizon. For a few moments they sat appreciating that they had survived to fight another day, before swiftly departing in the TARDIS.


	5. A Bumpy Journey (Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "He hated it when she was right, that was his job! The Doctor had resigned himself to being ordered about Amy for the rest of the day at least but that didn't mean he was going easy, oh no! The Doctor really didn't want to sleep, there were so many other things he could do in the time that was wasted in the few hours he was asleep for."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song inspo: Hoosiers - Bumpy Ride

As soon as the Doctor had sent the TARDIS to the Time vortex, he took of his jacket and collapsed onto the captain's chair, shutting his eyes. He'd nearly lost Amy to the ocean; his hearts had stopped beating when he'd seen her pale, lifeless body before him. He got her back but only just.

As if his thoughts had conjured her, Amy appeared atop the stairs in the console room, grateful for the warm pyjamas and dressing gown she'd found waiting for her after the much needed shower.

"Doctor?" She called out as she came down the stairs, drying her hair with a TARDIS blue towel.

She had a sneaking suspicion that the Doctor's favourite colour was blue as everything in the TARDIS matched her exterior colour. As she looked down at the Doctor, she could see he looked distinctively green in the face.

"Doctor, are you alright?" The Doctor opened his eyes to look at Amy.

"I'm fine, nothing that won't be fixed by the time you wake up again! Now you should be off to bed Pond!" The Doctor made as if to stand up to shoo her off to her bedroom, instead he winced in pain and went a whole shade lighter before collapsing back onto the chair.

"Well you certainly don't look it Mister!" Amy replied, rushing to his side. "Where does it hurt?"

"No honestly I'm fine Amy!" The Doctor protested.

The Doctor opened his mouth to argue some more but under Amy's withering glare, he finally admitted defeat and let Amy help him to the medical bay where she helped patch up what turned out to be a dislocated ankle. As she finished tying the last bandage to support his newly relocated ankle the Doctor let out a massive yawn, quickly followed by matching one from Amy.

"Looks like I'm not the only one who needs sleep, eh Doctor?" said Amy teasingly. He hated it when she was right, that was his job! The Doctor had resigned himself to being ordered about Amy for the rest of the day at least but that didn't mean he was going easy, oh no! The Doctor really didn't want to sleep, there were so many other things he could do in the time that was wasted in the few hours he was asleep for.

Amy virtually dragged the Doctor along the corridor to his bedroom, stopping outside his blue door, same as any other time she had bid him goodnight. The Doctor had behaved like a petulant child all the way, talking non-stop about fixing the TARDIS and anything else that seemed to pop into his mind.

"Why are you suddenly so against going to your bedroom? You've spent hours in there before, just tinkering with all that alien stuff!" Amy said, cutting across the Doctor's latest argument about how the coffee machine in the kitchen needed rewiring.

"Are you sure there's not a different reason you don't want to go to bed?"

The silence that followed merely confirmed her suspicions, she sighed exasperatedly and let go of the Doctor's hand, thinking she may as well play along with his excuses. The Doctor had been unusually quiet since she'd woken up on the beach, the Doctor leaning over her with worry in his eyes.

"How about we go to the kitchen then and see about the coffee machine? Maybe while we're there we can make some hot chocolate. How does that sound?" The grin that sprung up on the Doctor's face made Amy laugh out loud and before long they were racing down many more corridors to the kitchen, the Doctor's foot seemingly already on the mend.

They barrelled into the kitchen falling into the random assortment of chairs that surrounded the mismatched tables the Doctor had acquired in his cluttered but cosy kitchen. After catching his breath for a second the Doctor was already up rummaging through the cupboards, finding a couple of chipped mugs and what seemed to be hot chocolate, apparently from Mars.

"Best place in the universe for hot chocolate! Though I can never seem to make it how they do, the black and white stripes always disappear!"

The Doctor was talking at a thousand miles a minute as per usual, so Amy being tired, only got snippets on the origins of hot chocolate. Somehow by the time she'd caught her breath and stood up to help, the topic of conversation had moved on entirely as the Doctor was now talking about common plant life that wasn't actually indigenous to Earth. Amy took the mugs away from the Doctor and continued to make the hot chocolate occasionally squinting at the instructions on the back of the bright blue package.

Meanwhile, the Doctor had pounced on the coffee machine and proceeded to have it in bits all over the kitchen floor, still talking at high speeds.

"You know strawberries are actually an evolution of a square shaped fruit from the planet Fragaria? They taste like your Earth Cabbage but weren't that popular. I have no idea why!" said the Doctor, a puzzled expression on his face.

Amy finished the hot chocolate and sat on the floor next to the doctor, placing the two mugs just out of reach of his flailing arms. Somehow in the process of dismantling the coffee machine, the Doctor had managed to produce the square and oddly purple strawberries from somewhere and was now dipping them into his hot chocolate. Amy grimaced at the combination and took a sip from her hot chocolate, relishing in the warmth it spread to her bones after the events of the night. They sat in an easy silence, only broken by the occasional whirr of the sonic screwdriver and the Doctor muttering to himself about various components that needed to be more sonic and adding something that sounded like the words 'flux capacitor'. Amy shook her head at his rambling, the smile on her face faltering as she remembered why she was kneeling on the cold kitchen floor and reached over to the Doctor; her fingers brushed across his hand, stilling the sonic screwdriver held within his long fingers.

"Doctor?" She asked quietly "You're upset about something. What is it?"

"I should never have taken you there. People get hurt and leave because I don't think." He replied, punctuating the last word with a fist to the head, the screwdriver still clenched tightly in his hand.

"Don't worry I won't leave you!" Amy replied. "But surely you're not really ever alone even if others leave; there's always home right?"

"It's all… well, there's just me now. It's a long story and bad stuff happened. Now, can you pass me the silver cone from over there?" the Doctor replied casually and continued to examine part of the coffee machine in his lap intently, concentration etched upon his face.

"Well we have all the time we could need for a long story! Why are they all gone?" Amy asked.

The Doctor pretended not to hear her and set about attaching two pieces of the coffee machine together. Upside down, Amy noted. She pointed this out to the Doctor, who looked up confused; he held the pieces aloft, attaching them correctly after a small pause.

"Thanks Pond!" He said with a grin plastered to his face. But Amy could tell from the tension in his shoulders and the white knuckles on the sonic that he wasn't as happy as he made out. This was going to be hard but he needed this. He needed to let it all out and let someone else hold the burden for a while, instead of bottling it up until he exploded. You could go crazy with guilt otherwise, not that she was sure he wasn't crazy anyway.

"It can't be easy to lose everything you care about. But talking about it helps, even if it's just to your imaginary friend!" Amy teased; giving a reassuring smile, gleaning a small one in return before the Doctor retreated to the coffee machine in his lap. Sighing, Amy picked up the finished hot chocolate cups, tiptoeing over the pieces of coffee machine and placed them in the sink. Still no words left the Doctor's mouth. In the words of the currently mute Doctor this was very not good. Why did he have to be so frustrating?

She returned to her place on the floor next to the Doctor and picked up pieces of machinery, one or two occasionally being pulled out of her hands with a little more force than necessary. She asked other questions and even pretended to be interested in the history of coffee but to no avail. The only words that left the Doctor's lips were to ask her to pass one piece or another to him. As the coffee machine neared completion she stood, her frustration boiling over.

"Why do you insist of being so bloody minded?"

And still the Doctor sat stubbornly on the floor, not meeting Amy's eyes, not even acknowledging that she had stood.

"Fine! Go on pretending that everything in your life is fine and dandy when it's not. I accepted that my life wasn't what it could have been, why can't you? Faked happiness is worse than sadness." Amy strode towards the kitchen door, her dressing gown whipping around her knees in anger.

As she reached the door she stopped and leaned her forehead against the door frame, feeling the coolness on her flushed face. She sighed at the Doctor's profile, sadness replacing her earlier anger and went to leave when she heard something clatter to the floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry not sorry about the mini cliffhanger - this chapter ended up being one of the longest I'd written and so I couldn't help myself! I will at some point go back and edit these chapters to improve them a little from my originals from 6 years ago! So please let me know what you think!


	6. Bumpy Journey Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Before she had time to blink, or register that he'd moved, she was roughly shoved into the hallway by her shoulders. She felt a cold breeze as the Doctor strode past at high speed. She was left standing in her pyjamas, no longer warm, a cold shiver creeping up her spine."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 2 - Song inspo: The Hoosiers - Bumpy Ride

Amy turned to investigate the noise and what she saw nearly broke her heart. The Doctor held his head in his hands, the sonic a metre or so away where he had half-heartedly thrown it. He looked up at Amy as he heard her feet shuffle on the kitchen floor. He struck her with such a sorrowful look, with his hair all over the place, miscellaneous wires dangling over his shoulders and dribbles of coffee down his shirt. She would have laughed if he didn't look so very lost.

Abruptly, the Doctor stood; stretching to his full height and suddenly Amy was scared as he towered over her, his eyes dark and angry. But his voice was softer when he finally spoke.

"You make it look so easy to let go and forget your past Amy. You and your kiss-o-gram outfits. And you know what, I'd love to forget it all, every last bit of it. But I don't. Not ever." The Doctor walked over to his sonic and put it back into his jacket pocket.

"You came back for me. I'm here on the TARDIS, just like you promised. So I don't dwell on the past anymore. You're always on guard, always making excuses and changing the subject whenever anyone tries to get to know you. If your people mean that much to you, that you'd never forget them. Then surely their legacy should live on through you?"

Amy could see the Doctor thinking of an excuse, an escape so he could fob her off like he did whenever he didn't know how to answer her questions. She straightened her stance at the door, determined to be the person that the Doctor needed, whether he realised it or not. He walked towards her, stopping just inches from her face.

"You don't and never will understand. It doesn't help to talk about my past. There are things that could give you never ending nightmares. Things no one else should have to see, or even hear about." the Doctor said, raising his voice at Amy. She flinched at his words but stood still, feet planted either side of his. Her heart began to race as she took a deep breath.

"I don't forget my past. Not at all. I wear the scars with pride because they made me who I am today!" She yelled back at him. "I know what guilt feels like. So don't pretend I don't. It's like a poison creeping through your veins. It turns everything good into pain, until you can't feel or see anything in the darkness. You crave the sunlight but can't do anything but struggle through each day pretending that there isn't anything wrong." Amy continued to look up at the Doctor, even after her words ceased.

It felt like a lifetime that she stood there with tears running down her face, silently pleading with him to understand that she was here for him how she wished people had been there for her.

Before she had time to blink, or register that he'd moved, she was roughly shoved into the hallway by her shoulders. She felt a cold breeze as the Doctor strode past at high speed. She was left standing in her pyjamas, no longer warm, a cold shiver creeping up her spine.

\-----

The Doctor stomped into the console room, throwing his jacket over the railings and began pressing as many buttons as he could reach and pulling every lever he walked past on the console. Shortly afterwards he ended up tossed onto his backside on the console floor. 

"I don't care what you think! She had no right!" He yelled to the console room.

Further in the depths of the TARDIS, Amy was staggering along the corridors while the TARDIS was tossing and turning. She intended to find her room and start packing but instead found herself toppling out into the console room. The sudden stillness emphasised the tension in the air between Amy and the Doctor until it was overwhelming even in the huge room.

The Doctor moved from his position from beside the console and sat on the stairs leading down towards the front of the TARDIS.

"There's just… Nothing." The Doctor's voice echoed around the room, sounding as if he was standing next to Amy. She waited, sensing that now was not the time to speak.

"I feel nothing. Because I took it away. All of it. The hardest part, the hardest part of all, Amy. Is to feel nothing inside my head when it always used to be so full of other… stuff. So many thoughts and voices and emotions, now it's just empty space."

Amy walked from her position further into the console room to sit next to the Doctor, smiling slightly as she remembered the first time she'd sat on TARDIS stairs with the Doctor. They sat in silence, tension still palpable between them until the Doctor spoke again in a dejected voice.

"I don't want to left alone with my thoughts. So I plaster on a smile and solider on."

"How about we soldier onto a view of the Milky Way? You haven't shown me stars yet!" Amy replied with a slight smile, thinking about how she went for walks under the stars in Leadworth when it all got too much. The Doctor jumped up much like his old self but now Amy knew the truth she could still see the strain and his long, lonely life summed up in his eyes. He pulled levers and pressed buttons like a madman and a few seconds later they were floating in the Milky Way, or so the Doctor claimed.

"So if I just open the doors… We won't float out?" Amy asked as she walked over to the door, pausing with one hand on the door latch. A gesture from the Doctor showed her she should open the doors. Taking a deep breath, she gently pushed the doors opened and squinted as bright light hit her in the face, staggering slightly. She felt hands steady her upright and turned to find the Doctor next to her.

"Careful, you don't want to fall out into space!" he chuckled quietly as he lent against the TARDIS door frame. Amy sat down and shuffled towards the edge of the doorway and let her feet dangle into space. She gestured for the Doctor to sit next to her and after a moment's hesitation he mirrored Amy's position on the edge of the TARDIS. They both turned and gazed into the stars, their worries temporarily forgotten.

The Doctor had no idea how long they'd been sitting with their feet dangling, floating through space but when he next looked over at Amy he saw her fast asleep, her red hair framing her peaceful face. He stretched and stood, careful not to wake Amy. Turning, he scooped her up in his arms and shut the doors behind him. Amy murmured in her sleep and snuggled closer to the Doctor, sensing his warmth. He glanced down at her movement and smiled, realising she'd done something in one evening that he couldn't do in all his hundreds of years of travelling. She'd actually made him appreciate all the little things again.

He reached her bedroom a short while later, Amy still fast asleep in his arms. He nudged open the door with his foot, only to find it opened halfway and no more due to the hundreds of pieces of clothing and numerous other items on the floor. Stealthily, dodging most of the objects, the Doctor made it close enough to Amy's bed to put her down gently.

"Oh Amelia Pond, whatever will I do with you?" The Doctor whispered fondly as he pulled up the duvet around her and kissed her on the forehead. He walked to the door, taking once last glance at her and shut the door behind him, heading off to his room for some much needed sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like this chapter has a better cliffhanger in the middle than the one I used for the end of Part 1 when I first wrote it but oh well! Forgive me pretty please?


	7. An interlude in the TARDIS

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I just happen to find it interesting that you can concentrate on painting your nails but can't follow simple instructions like not wandering off!" The Doctor replied, a grin on his face.
> 
> "I'm sure I don't have to tell you that it's more fun that way!" Amy said, smirking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song inspo: Panic! At the Disco - Ballad of Mona Lisa

The Doctor took off his goggles and wiped his forehead, squinting at his recent repairs to the TARDIS's circuitry. Nodding to himself, he hung up his goggles on a nearby lever and walked to the kitchen. He was so intent on finding some jammie dodgers and a cup of tea it was a couple of moments until he realised Amy was in the kitchen too.

"Oh Pond! Didn't see you there! You want some tea?" He said putting the kettle on, a packet of jammie dodgers already in his hands.

"Morning! Umm… afternoon? Being on the TARDIS makes it hard to keep track of time!" Amy laughed. "Tea me up Raggedy Man!" she replied, dangling her mug on the end of finger.

As the Doctor reached for Amy's mug, he noticed that for once, Amy had plain nails. Not a trace of polish was visible on her hands, but some stained red cotton wool nearby and a faint whiff of nail polish remover in the air gave it away. On closer inspection, among the remnants of Amy's breakfast lay a case containing several bottles of polish and a larger bottle of pale pink nail polish remover crammed into it.

Amy smiled and turned to her case of nail varnish, finally selecting one she'd bought recently. A lovely deep blue that was as close the TARDIS blue as she could find, having fallen in love with the exterior colour since she was small.

The Doctor put her mug of tea down on the table and sat down opposite her. She looked up briefly to say thank you and smiled at the Doctor before returning to painting her nails. He'd never seen her concentrate so much on something before. He sat there fascinated by the rhythm Amy had set up for herself as she painted her nails, each stroke was near perfect.

A short while later Amy sighed and stretched her hands out in front of her, admiring her nails in the bright kitchen lights. Satisfied, she blew gently on her nails in attempts to make them dry faster, glancing across the table to see the Doctor looking avidly at her.

"Do you think you could maybe stop staring at me?" 

"I just happen to find it interesting that you can concentrate on painting your nails but can't follow simple instructions like not wandering off!" The Doctor replied, a grin on his face.

"I'm sure I don't have to tell you that it's more fun that way!" Amy said, smirking.

Amy left the kitchen, nail varnishes and tea in hand to finish painting her nails in peace, away from where curious hands couldn't get at them.

He came back across her a couple of hours later after he'd gotten distracted from deciding to tinker with the toaster. He had wandered towards the library and swimming pool room, figuring that would be where Amy would be, reading some soppy romance novel, like she usually did when they weren't on an adventure. On entering the room he heard faint music coming from where the pool was located in the library so he wandered among the shelves towards the music.

Amy was indeed here. She was sprawled out on a sun lounger at the edge of the pool, despite the lack of sun. In her hand she had one of her favourite novels, one of those ones with the typical fantasy male clutching a seemingly helpless female. A brightly coloured table, completely at odds to the décor in the library, sat at her side with a small CD player and a glass of water resting on top. The Doctor didn't really understand the fascination with the novels when you could go anytime, anywhere in the TARDIS. What he hadn't counted on was her attire.

She was dressed, well dressed was perhaps a generous word for it, in a navy blue and green diamond patterned cut away swimming costume that matched her new nails.

Amy definitely wasn't a helpless female; she knew exactly what her looks could do to men, or perhaps aliens. That's why she sat there with a sly smile on her face as she spied the Doctor coming around the edge of the section closest to the pool. She hadn't intended on the Doctor coming across her by the pool but she'd love to see his reaction as she'd missed the first time she'd embarrassed him. He'd bolted before she could peek around the door, let alone hand him his jacket back. Which, now she came to think about it was still hung over a chair in her room. She made a mental note to return it to him later as he rounded the last bookcase.

She was disappointed though, as he didn't look a tiny bit embarrassed. As the Doctor came closer to Amy she put her book down in her lap and looked up at him in faint interest.

"So what brings you to this corner of the TARDIS?" She asked.

"The TARDIS doesn't have corners" He replied huffily before continuing. "Well I remembered that I was going to come find you after I'd finished some repairs. So here I am, a little later than intended but we're in a time machine so it doesn't really matter. Now there was somewhere I was planning on taking you…" The Doctor continued to speak but Amy tuned out, a skill she'd quickly picked up when she began travelling with the Doctor.

"Oh… I remember! I was just thinking we should go see Mona Lisa, or using her real name, Lisa del Giocondo. You know, find out about the woman behind the mysterious picture!" said the Doctor with a flourish, a grin on his face.

"Oooh, that's Italy right?" Amy looked thoughtful. "What clothes should I wear?"

The Doctor opened his mouth to reply but before he could answer her, he found her book shoved into his hands as Amy took off into the depths of the TARDIS in search of the wardrobe.

A short while later Amy returned to the console room, where the Doctor was looking very bored waiting for her to return. She was dressed much more conservatively but Amy being Amy, there was more skin on display than there should have been for that time period. She'd found a pair of denim shorts and a red shirt, thinking them to be more practical than the clothes she usually wore on adventures. It wasn't that easy to run in a mini skirt last time they got into trouble!

The Doctor had given up telling her it was more likely to get them into trouble with her dressed in such a way, as each time she'd just smiled and walked out of the TARDIS into whatever adventure they had next.

The Doctor pulled the lever and sent them flying through time and space to land in what he hoped was early 16th century Italy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is mostly filler as the next chapter originally took ages to write and I still kinda like it so I've left it as is! I do find this a little cringy but hopefully its somewhat in character for Amy. Let me know your thoughts!


	8. Mona Lisa's Smile

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Familiar gin bottles covered every available surface, except for the desk which was unusually tidy and clean for someone who spent a large amount of his time at it. There was a wide and neat path from the door to the desk devoid of bottles, although unlike the ones they had seen in the cupboard that still contained the TARDIS, most of these ones still had liquid in them. As Amy stood behind the desk, she noticed that the window was directly opposite the older house that she and the Doctor had found themselves in earlier that day. She ran her fingers over the few small scratch marks embedded into the wall and wondered what on earth could make those marks?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song Inspo: Panic! At the Disco - Ballad of Mona Lisa

As the Doctor opened the door, he noticed that the TARDIS was parked in the only empty floor space that there was left in the room. The rest of the small room or possibly cupboard was full of empty glass bottles. As he walked out of the door he reached out and plucked one off of a shelf and licks it.

"It's some kind of alcohol, most likely similar to 20th Century gin." The Doctor said matter-of-factly.

Amy walked out behind the Doctor and picked one of the closer ones up and sniffed the neck of the bottle gingerly. Moments later she recoiled as the smell of stale gin wafts up her nose.

"Wow! Yeah, definitely gin. After the amount of parties I've worked at, I'll never forget that smell!" Amy said and placed the bottle back before the gin could invade her nose again.

The Doctor reached the door first and waited briefly for Amy to reach his side before turning to her with a grin across his face. His hand landed on the door handle and leaning towards to Amy, he lowered his voice dramatically as he spoke.

"16th century Italy awaits, you ready Pond?"

She smirked and yanked open the door using his hand before he could protest. As she sauntered past him, a waft of her perfume mixed with the stale air crept up his nose. The Doctor wondered where he'd smelt her perfume before, not noticing Amy wander off without him. In the dark and dingy corridor Amy noticed a boarded up window to her right with cracks of sunlight pouring through onto the dusty floor.

Suddenly craving some fresh air, she walked towards the boarded up window and stood with the sunlight and shadow creating stripes across her face. She reached out to feel the rough boards under her fingertips and to her surprise the boards swung away, taking the remains of some ancient looking shutters with them. Amy was virtually blinded and her breath was taken away as the sunlight and dry heat fully hit her face. After squeezing her eyes shut to the brightness she stood and relished in the feel of the sun on her skin.

Hearing a sudden noise, Amy whipped round her eyes flying open only to be greeted by the Doctor grinning sheepishly at her as he put back whatever he'd managed to knock over. She smiled and shook her head at him before peering out the window again. The view that greeted her took her breath away, in the distance she could see green hills but closer she could make out a sparkling river in among the tall spindly houses that seemed to spring up around one another. Amy's line of sight drifted down, closer to the window when she saw something that made her shiver, despite the heavy heat.

"I think we'd better run!" Amy said loudly over her shoulder, backing away from the window.

"Why?" The Doctor replied, right behind Amy, making her jump yet again. She pointed out of the window, the Doctor leaning around her to see the direction Amy was pointing. There were a couple of guards gesticulating towards the pair from a nearby courtyard.

"Nonsense!" The Doctor said heartily, "I'll just go and say hello!" With that, he turned on his heel and strode down the corridor and disappeared from sight.

Amy sighed and hurried after him, wishing she had a leash for him. It'd certainly make her life easier when it came to not getting into trouble every time he landed the TARDIS somewhere.

Just how big is this place? Amy thought to herself as she slid around what seemed like the umpteenth corner in pursuit of the Doctor. Breathing heavily, she all but jumped down a set of stairs, catching up with the Doctor but also coming face to face with the guards she'd seen outside in the courtyard.

They seemed much bigger and meaner face to face, weapons that Amy hadn't noticed earlier glinting from around their belts in the dim light. The Doctor seemed unabashed however and was busying talking their ears off. She could see the eyes narrow of the guard nearest to her. She guessed that the more the Doctor talked, the more likely he was to get a limb or his head chopped of, just so he'd stop talking.

"Doctor!" She exclaimed, hunched over still trying to catch her breath. "Get to the point!"

"Ah yes Pond!" he replied looking over at her briefly when he heard her voice. "If you would be so kind as to direct me to the people that own this building that would be lovely!" He said, clapping his hands together and smiling.

As the seconds past, the Doctor's smile faltered. But to both his and Amy's relief, the disgruntled guards turned and gestured through a small doorway through which the courtyard could be seen. As Amy and the Doctor walked through the nearby archway and into the courtyard, the guards followed closely behind.

Amy turned her head to get a good look at the guards that were following them to find them a tad too close for comfort. She shivered and with a swift glare at the pair, she looked back to the front, speeding up to walk beside the Doctor.

With a few grunts from the guards they found their way through another maze like set of corridors into what Amy would have called a living room except it felt bare and empty with only a few sparse pieces of furniture in the airy space.

In the shadows, the Doctor had noticed a couple, quietly sitting and talking. They looked up as the Doctor and Amy walked in, flanked by the two guards.

"Hello!" The Doctor cried with enthusiasm, about to stride forward to greet the couple, when the man in the shadows spoke up.

"We have not resided here long, strangers. If you wish to speak to a previous tenant, I'm afraid you're out of luck!" The man began with a cold voice.

Immediately one of the guards piped up to explain how they'd found the two of them skulking around the old house next door. The man's face darkened further at these words but his eyes were tinged with curiosity.

"How would two unusual characters such as you come to be found inside my old family home?" The man asked, his eyes taking in their clothes and lack of travelling equipment or entourage. "It appears that the folktale was not as much of a deterrent as it is to the rest of the town. Perhaps you thought that you might be able to salvage riches that no-one has dared to go and steal before you?" the man finished with a steely glare.

At these words, the Doctor looked almost insulted and rushed to fabricate how he'd come to appear in the old family home. He reached into his pocket and to Amy's relief brought out the psychic paper and proceeded to wave it about in front of the man's face.

After a few tense seconds, the man's face turned from annoyance and anger to mild humility.

"Forgive my suspicions; I assumed that you and your consort were here to steal from me. We've been put on edge recently by hearing noises and strange candlelight coming from the upper floors of my old family home. At first we thought that it was the maid losing her mind but my wife has seen it recently too. I apologise for my manners, my name is Francesco."

"Not to worry my good man!" the Doctor replied, cheerfully. "Now, what say we all sit down and discuss these strange occurrences?"

The Doctor tossed the psychic paper to Amy, correctly interpreting that she would want to see what it had told Franscesco. Well, it _would_ help them corroborate backgrounds she thought. She remembered the last time they were separated and the Doctor had forgotten to tell her a vital piece of information that led him being thrown in jail and her to be sold for auction! The Doctor put his arm around the man's shoulders and steered him towards the woman who had remained seated during the whole exchange. Amy followed just behind the Doctor, reading the psychic paper. So, Franscesco thought that she and the Doctor were married did he? She could have some fun with this! She quite fancied pretending to be a foreign merchant's wife.

"This is my wife Lisa." Franscesco said, gesturing towards the woman, as she stood and stepped into a lighter part of the room.

"What unusual dress these merchants have!" She replied to her husband before smiling at her guests.

Amy's jaw dropped. It really was her, in the flesh. She looked so like the famous painting, the only difference being the woman's hair was currently pinned into an elegant knot at the nape of her neck.

"It's really her!" Amy gasped in a loud whisper to the Doctor. The Doctor chuckled shared an excited grin before accepting a chair from the now much less hostile guards. Amy turned and did the same.

"Sorry for the intrusion." Amy exclaimed to Lisa. "My husband and I were searching this town for a place to stay for a few days while he is here on business and we must have taken a wrong turn."

The Doctor looked over at Amy from his seat. Since when did she speak with a posh voice?

"What do you think caused these disturbances?" Amy asked the couple.

"We presume the noises and candlelight are from thieves set on removing as much of the character and contents of the house as they can. I'd planned to rebuild the old house and make it into a home for my family again, but with these disturbances it just doesn't seem safe." Franscesco replied.

"You mentioned something about a folktale?" The Doctor enquired.

"Yes Doctor, I have grown up with it. Ever since I was a little boy I've been told of a gremlin of sorts haunts the top floor corridors in the house I grew up in. I was never allowed in those corridors!" Franscesco finished this thought with a small wistful smile which was soon followed by set features.

"I must find out the cause of these disturbances, if for nothing else than to deter any thieves that may contemplate ransacking my family home."

Shortly after this, it was determined by the couple that Amy and the Doctor should stay the night as guests.

"I insist you stay!" said Lisa. "I'm sure at some point our husbands would have to talk about business during your stay here in the town so why not keep me company?" She asked Amy. "At the very least stay for a meal, food will be served shortly and you two travellers must be hungry."

At that point Amy's stomach made a loud noise indicating she hadn't eaten anything for a while so she and the Doctor agreed to stay for the night. They were shown to their rooms by the oldest woman Amy had ever seen! The Doctor of course bombarded her with questions the minute she came to take them to their room. By the time they got into their room, with a reminder that they should come back down as soon as they were settled, she sped away as fast as her old legs could carry her.

The Doctor paced within their room. Francesco and Lisa had given their guests a room with one of the comfiest double beds Amy had ever sat on. Second only perhaps to her bed on the TARDIS! Amy was laughing to herself about sleeping in the same bed as the Doctor. She wondered if he rambled in his sleep as much as he did when he was awake!

"I wonder why she was in such a hurry to get away." The Doctor mused out loud as he shut the door behind the maid's retreating back.

"That's probably because she was fed up of your voice!" Amy replied, laughing at him.

"Well we found out that Francesco regularly falls asleep at his desk after staying up late to keep his accounts in check. So we can presume that's where he will be tonight, we just need to find out where his study is." The Doctor thought, starting to stride from one end of the room to the other.

"Ah the maid was kind enough to tell me that little factoid while you were busy talking to yourself on the way up here!" Amy interjected. "His study is at the opposite end of the house to the family rooms, so that he does not disturb his family's sleep or so she claims."

"That means he's the floor above us and only a little bit further down the corridor. Now if I can just… The Doctor tailed off as he pointed his sonic at the ceiling.

"Hey Doctor, you should join me on the bed." Amy suggested with a flirtatious smile.

"There's no time for lounging about when there's a mystery to be solved!" The Doctor replied, completely missing the innuendo in Amy's request and grabbing a nearby chair before turning back to the ceiling of the room.

"But this bed is soo comfy!" Amy exclaimed, stretching out across the bed.

"Ah Pond! We won't be sleeping tonight! We're going monster hunting!" Amy let out a sigh, she really wanted to try out this old bed, well old compared to her bed anyways. It seemed only a couple of decades old at that moment in time. It really did seem like the perfect place for a nap or other activities...

"18 years old if I'm not mistaken." The Doctor replied absently. Amy did a double take at these words but quickly realised she'd been staring intently at the patterns on the headboard all the while he was wandering around the room using his screwdriver on everything. Of course he'd jump to that conclusion rather than the one that Amy would have deduced from anyone else staring at a bed with an audience.

Amy had all but fallen asleep on the bed when the Doctor finally put his sonic screwdriver away.

"Come along Pond!" he said as he clapped his hands together, making Amy jump. "We've got a dinner with Mona Lisa to go to!"

Amy leapt up with excitement and with a grin matching the one on the Doctor's face; she took his offered arm and went down to dinner.

\---

A several hours and a lots of attempts to keep the Doctor entertained later, Amy and the Doctor were peeking out of the door to their room, looking for any signs of candlelight along the dark corridor.

"It sounds like the rest of the house is asleep. Now all we have to worry about is Francesco!" The Doctor whispered as he shut the door behind him and Amy, cutting out the dim light that had been bleeding out from the room into the corridor.

They'd heard him moving about his office upstairs for the last hour or so but it seemed as if all the noise had at last stopped. After waiting for their eyes to adjust to the gloom, Amy and the Doctor walked quietly down the corridor until they found the stairs leading to the office.

From the top of the stairs it was clear that Francesco was no longer working in his office. There was no tell-tale candle light coming from under the door but still the Doctor put his finger to his lips as he tiptoed along the corridor.

Following the Doctor in this instance was difficult as Amy hadn't counted on how much she wanted to laugh at the almost Pink Panther like sneaking that the Doctor had adopted. Eventually, after a small while fiddling with the sonic screwdriver's settings and mutterings dissing the screwdriver that the Doctor certainly did not appreciate, the door was finally open.

They found themselves inside a room a little bigger than the room they had waited in below. Here the shutters hadn't been closed so the moonlight streamed in, illuminating the rather strange room.

Familiar gin bottles covered every available surface, except for the desk which was unusually tidy and clean for someone who spent a large amount of his time at it. There was a wide and neat path from the door to the desk devoid of bottles, although unlike the ones they had seen in the cupboard that still contained the TARDIS, most of these ones still had liquid in them. As Amy stood behind the desk, she noticed that the window was directly opposite the older house that she and the Doctor had found themselves in earlier that day. She ran her fingers over the few small scratch marks embedded into the wall and wondered what on earth could make those marks?

"I think our next stop should be the TARDIS. There's something I need to check." The Doctor whispered, turning to leave the eerie room.

With one last look at the moonlight reflecting off of the mysterious liquid in the glass bottles, Amy closed the door behind her and followed the Doctor.

A short while later they found themselves out into the courtyard between the two houses. Amy paused to look up at the stars and smiled before catching up to the Doctor and in no time at all they were standing in front of the TARDIS again, thankfully without coming across anyone else.

The Doctor strode up to the box and reverently touched the door handle before quickly entering the console room. Amy walked after him to find the Doctor standing over what could only be considered a brass funnel with extra lights and dials on it. He seemingly conjured a bottle of the strange liquid out of nowhere and Amy considered the possibility that his pockets were bigger on the inside. An interesting thought she filed away to think about later before she got distracted from the matter at hand.

"So Doctor… What's in the bottle?" Amy asked as she walked up to him and leant against the console.

"Well it's definitely Gin. But not just any Gin. It has some strange particles in it that the TARDIS is just analysing. Won't take a moment." The Doctor replied hurriedly, clearing showing his boredom about having to wait a few precious seconds before he could be back in action again.

As if waiting for the Doctor's command, which being the TARDIS, she probably was, a bell was heard and a piece of paper popped out of the console near the Doctor's hand. Eagerly he grabbed and quickly read the results.

"Oh no… this is not good. We need to create a stabilising agent that'll cover the signal!"

With that cryptic statement he was off into the TARDIS at a pace Amy was never going to be able to keep up with so she just settled for waiting for his return. Sure enough, a few moments later he reappeared with his arms full of stuff. He stood there for a few moments gesturing at Amy, but with his mouth holding his Sonic Screwdriver and his arms full of strange objects, it was a few moments before she realised what he was asking.

"Oh! You want me to take the screwdriver?" She asked and took it out of his mouth.

"Thank you Pond! Right could take the red bottle on the right and place it gently on the floor? I don't want the bottle to break. Last time that happened I had Nargles all over my ship for weeks! Ah, JK, you don't know how accurate you were!"

Amy did as she was asked, rolling her eyes at his bizarre comment. She watched as he struggled to put down the rest of the objects he was holding before taking pity on him and helping him put them all down.

"Are you actually going to tell me what's going on Doctor? You mentioned something about a stabilising agent and some kind of signal?"

The Doctor looked up at Amy's bewildered face from where he was pouring various things into the original bottle and pointing his sonic at it.

"Haven't I said that bit already?" The Doctor replied, confused. "Oh well… Lisa's husband isn't totally human he's been infested with a scout drone, usually sent out in order to determine mineral content of a planet or area, if there are any life forms present, that kind of thing. However, judging from the makeup and demeanour of him, I'd say it was top of the range model, designed to blend in and infiltrate. In short, a spy for facilitating the invasion of Earth."

"Francesco doesn't seem like he's bent on enslaving the human race. How can you tell?" Amy exclaimed.

"I don't think even he's aware of what he does when he enters his office at night. He appears to switch into a suppressed memory state, where the drone takes over. Definitely an advanced model. Problem is, as soon as he becomes aware of this, the drone will self-destruct, destroying anything that contains his DNA as a sure fire means of eradicating any trace of the drone and preventing anyone from getting hold of the technology.

"But that'll mean his children will disappear too right?" Amy paused, horrified as her school science classes suddenly became useful, before another thought occurred to her. "But, it's bigger than that! If Lisa loses her husband she won't sit for the Mona Lisa painting! That will change history won't it? Is it one of those fixed thingies you were waffling on about when I asked why we couldn't go and get rid of Hitler? I'm right aren't I?"The Doctor looked vaguely amused that she'd listened to him, but nodded his affirmation of her rambling.

"And I'm afraid it gets worse. The drone's work is nearly done judging by the amount of empty bottles that were in the cupboard and the amount of information required for an invasion. I'd estimate we have until dawn when the drone will send the last batch of information back to wherever it's come from."

Amy went to check her watch, forgetting that since being the on the TARDIS, it had pretty much become redundant. She smirked as she realised it was reading four in the afternoon.

"It's about an hour before dawn." The Doctor commented, with a grim look upon his face. Amy visibly paled at his words and rushed to help him finish the antidote. She didn't understand half the words he was saying to her but managed to follow all of his instructions until they placed the cork into the now full bottle. It contained layers upon layers of strange coloured liquids and chunks of unnameable things she'd rather not think about. As she watched, the layers combined into an opaque, greyish solution.

Amy hurriedly stepped back outside the TARDIS a few moments later as the Doctor was still rushing around grabbing various things and throwing stuff all over the console room. She ducked as a tube went sailing past her head before the Doctor joined her outside the TARDIS with his hands full of the bottle and the bizarre funnel from earlier that he appeared to have ripped off of the console.

Amy held out her hands for the funnel, snatching it from his hands before he managed to damage someone with it.

As they stepped into the corridor, Amy could see the sky beginning to pale through the shutters at the end. The Doctor looked at the window too, his face set in a grim line.

Suddenly they were interrupted with a high pitched scream echoing through the halls.

"Lisa!" Amy exclaimed. The pair shot off down the corridor into unknown territory.

As they rounded the final corner, Amy collided with the Doctor's back as he suddenly stopped. Breathing heavily, Amy collected herself and looked down the corridor. She froze as she saw what used to be Francesco towering over Lisa. Franscesco's eyes glinted in the light from the discarded candle, seemingly devoid of any emotion. She watched in horror as his fingertips elongated, becoming thin silver blades. Catching a glimpse of Amy behind her, Lisa visibly stiffened and stood her ground, refusing to back down as he advanced on her with his claws extended

"Please Francesco, don't do this! I know you're in there somewhere! Please, please!" The desperation was evident in her voice as she continued to beg him to stop, to see some indication of her husband in the monster that stood before her.

Unbeknownst to any of them, the Doctor had snuck to the side of the droid and hid in the partial shadows. He began to shake the bottle he still held tightly in his hands, hoping that this would work in time. As he stepped closer, a floorboard creaked, causing everyone to turn in his direction.

Franscesco turned towards the Doctor instead. For a split second Amy thought the Doctor was going to run but instead he fumbled for his sonic screwdriver and aimed it at the now fizzing bottle, never taking his eyes off of him.

Amy rushed forward to help Lisa away from where the Doctor and the Francesco-droid stood. She tried to pull Lisa along the corridor and away from danger but Lisa refused to move.

"I cannot leave my husband. No matter who or what has possessed him. I refuse."

"But you must." Amy replied desperately. "You were always meant to sit for Leonardo da Vinci today, if don't, more than your husband's life is at stake. Your children's lives could be at stake too!"

Lisa swayed on the spot, clutching at her chest.

"I can't possibly leave him now! Not if saving him means saving my children too!"

"Take your children somewhere safe and go and sit for Leonardo Da Vinci, you need to be there!"

"But… but how do you know all of this? Are you a fortune teller, a soothsayer? If so, leave my presence immediately, for I have no time for your nonsense! Something terrible is happening to my husband and he needs a physician, not 'help' from your husband!" Lisa replied, her shock turning into anger.

"Well…" Amy glanced behind her, checking that they weren't in immediate danger. "The thing is… me and the Doctor can sort of… travel in time… But anyway, we don't have time for this. Your husband is running _out_ of time. I need to go back and help the Doctor but you have to go and sit for your painting!" Amy tried to placate Lisa, pleading with her to just understand and leave.

"I can see the honesty in your eyes, but please tell me as soon as you have any news. I couldn't bear to be without my husband or children." Lisa turned to look back up the corridor, the worry evident in her now pale face, before hurrying off. Amy jogged back around into the next corridor to find the Doctor covered in what looked like bath foam. Amy was about to giggle until she saw the dark look upon his face.

"Whats wrong?" She asked as she approached him and the prone figure she could now see lying among the bubbles.

"It was supposed to have worked by now." The Doctor said quietly as he put his sonic screwdriver away. "There's no signal at least, but his DNA was supposed to have been stabilised by the antidote too. I based it on the feeding solution within the gin solution we found everywhere."

Amy suddenly realised that she could see better than before, owing to another old set of shutters at the end that now had daylight spilling through them. Amy knelt down in front of the Francesco and turned him onto his back and began to check for a pulse. While there was still a chance he could be saved, she wasn't going to give up; it was only a few minutes after the sun had started to rise. She could do this.

"DOCTOR!" Amy yelled suddenly into the silence. The Doctor leapt up from where he'd been sitting dejectedly to Amy's side where she excitedly grabbed his hand and shoved it onto Franscesco's neck. The Doctor's eyes widened and he smiled, grabbing Amy by the face and kissing her forehead.

"My brilliant, amazing Pond! It's weak but the pulse is there! You've just saved a man's life!"

Out of the blue, the Doctor slapped his forehead.

"Stupid! I'm so stupid! The final ingredient!"

With those words still ringing his Amy's ears she watched him dash off and return just as quickly. He slide most of the way back down to Amy, almost crashing into her, before upending one of the half-filled gin bottles over Francesco's pale face.

"Please work. Please." The Doctor muttered as he shook the final dregs out of the bottle into the man's mouth.

Silence descended on the corridor as they waited for what seemed like hours before his pulse became stronger and he started to regain consciousness. The Doctor grinned over at Amy, before scanning Francesco once again with his screwdriver.

Satisfied that he was no longer in danger, they helped Francesco get to his feet, where he tried to stand on his own before violently swaying on the spot. The Doctor caught him and put the man's arm over his shoulders and motioned for Amy to do the same.

"What happened?" Franscesco asked groggily from his position between the pair. "What are you two doing here in my old house again?"

"You'll be right as rain in no time Francesco! Just need a good rest and to stay off the gin for a while!" The Doctor smirked at his own joke, while Francesco looked at him puzzled.

"I must have drunk a large amount not to remember coming up to my old house." Francesco mumbled to himself more than anyone else.

"Ah well never mind!" 

"Let's get you to bed! You just suffered an umm… minor imbalance of the humours, right Doctor?" Amy hurriedly added, shrugging at the Doctor. He just shrugged back

"Hmm. Yes. Rest sounds good about now." Francesco mumbled again, wobbling a little even with support from Amy and the Doctor.

A short while later, Amy and the Doctor had deposited Francesco in the care of the house maid in his room and found out from the guards where Lisa was sitting for her painting they journeyed through the tiny streets in town to Da Vinci's house where they were to find her.

This time they were apparently a wealthy couple interested in buying art Amy noted from the psychic paper as they were admitted into the house by a man servant. Amy couldn't help but admire the splendour around them as they were shown to the room where Da Vinci worked.

"I can't believe I'm getting to meet Leonardo Da Vinci too!" Amy exclaimed, almost jumping up and down with excitement.

She took a deep breath and composed herself quickly before they were shown into the studio. As they stepped in they could see a man painting at a canvas, concentration clear in every movement of his body. For once, both Amy and the Doctor were silent as they watched a man; who they both considered a genius, work his magic onto the canvas.

A small cough echoed in the room, making both of them jump. Leonardo looks up from his canvas at the soon to be immortalised Lisa, before turning to look behind him at the new people.

"What in God's name are you doing here?" He thundered. "I told everyone I was not to be disturbed!"

He paused as he saw the Doctor whistling nonchalantly and trying very hard not be recognised near the doorway. But the Doctors attempts at anonymity failed astoundingly as Lisa, impatient for news, called out to him by name. Her requests for information were soon drowned out by Leonardo's booming voice echoing around the room.

"You! You dare to show your face to me again!"

"Sorry!" Amy said, waving sheepishly. "We just wanted a quick word with Lisa."

The Doctor continues, turning to Lisa. "Your husband is fine. No damage done. He's resting as we speak."

These final words were garbled quickly by the Doctor as Leonardo glared at him.

"Leonardo, I believe my husband is commissioning you to paint not to glare at a dear friend of mine?" Lisa asked irritably from where she was sitting. But the small smile that had broken out across her face belied her seemingly agitated mood.

Leonardo returned his attention to Lisa and gasped, his eyes lighting up.

"Perfect Madam! Stay exactly how you are composed at this very second!"

He began to paint with enthusiasm onto the canvas, not giving the Doctor a second thought. Amy took this as their cue to leave, waving to Lisa as they left.

"You know, a short while after today, her husband becomes a highly important town official and essentially runs Florence with Lisa by his side. Talk about a power couple eh?" said the Doctor, stepping into cupboard where the TARDIS sat, quietly humming.

"So will they be ok now? I'm guessing Francesco is no longer dependant on the stuff in the gin right?" Amy asked, leaning on the door frame.

"Yes they'll be fine Pond. I checked. There are no signals left anywhere near here. No remnants of the strange gin left either. I told the lovely maid that she was to get rid of all of it. Doctor's orders!" He laughed, unlocking the door and stepping into the TARDIS.

"But what about the drone being linked to the family?" Amy replied, following him through those familiar blue doors.

"Once a drone finds a suitable human, it latches onto the DNA and hops into the next one along in the blood line when the previous person dies, so they must have slowly been collecting information for years! Hence the folktale. It must have been going at least to Francesco's father as a child. But I disrupted the signal and the link to the family DNA, so it won't affect any future generations." The Doctor said, striding up to the console.

Sure saving a whole generation was a triumph she thought, but Amy was just happy that she knew the real reason behind the mysterious smile of the famous Mona Lisa.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My aim was for the next few chapters to be a little fluffy finally start doubling down on the AmyxEleven but there's actually a little more angst coming up on the horizon! Ooops!  
> Sorry if I've made any historical boo boos, I did some research, but there's a little poetic license where I couldn't find specifics. Next chapter is one I've actually written this year!


	9. You Could Be Invincible

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "The journey back didn't seem to half as arduous despite much ducking and weaving through the streets, taking detours over and around upturned trees. It wasn't until she came across an accidental archway made of a lorry and an ice cream truck that groaned gently in a light breeze that she'd realised that some backup power was online as there was the odd streetlamp alight here and there that hadn't been smashed up or ripped out of its place in the pavement to provide her with some light. The insanely strong winds had now stopped too, leaving an eerie silence in their wake, punctuated only by the odd police siren in the distance."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This adventure is a little choppy as it changes viewpoints, so I hope it's clear. I welcome any constructive feedback in the comments!
> 
> Song Inspo: Ok Go – Invincible

They'd been in London, just over a century or so into the future because Amy was curious to see what the future was going to be like. They'd spent a peaceful morning in among the future residents of London and seen all kinds of new technology and ideas that Amy had had to promise the Doctor she wouldn't mention back in her time because it would interfere with timelines, end of the world type deal or something like that. It was mid-afternoon by this point and the duo had just passed a small but seemingly popular little shop that sold the strangest foods Amy had ever seen. So, following their stomachs and peaked curiosity, they entered the café.

They'd just decided to try some new, frankly terrifying looking dessert that looked like it would make you ill with just one bite, when a rumble of thunder erupted from the sky. In the seconds after, the sky darkened to an almost purple colour as they sat in the café. The Doctor had swiftly abandoned his spoon and run out of the café, with his screwdriver held aloft. Amy had quickly followed suit but stopped short not far into the street.

There was lots of crashing and banging all around as a large spaceship had appeared from the clouds, only discernible from the heavy clouds by the few bright white lights dotted across the base of the ship. The descent had been slow but powerful and, in the time, that it had taken to break through the heavy clouds, the streets around the building were unrecognisable. It'd blown over bins and signs where they stood but closer to the epicentre trees and cars had blown over and many buildings had windowpanes missing and tiles barely hanging on. It hadn't taken long for the collection of people standing out in the street to change from fascinated to complete panic. Amy had had her hands full yelling over the gusts of winds to direct people away from the direction of the spacecraft, but eventually people got the idea and the crowds begun to thin out with people filing into the basements of buildings and the nearby tube stations for safety.

Once the spacecraft had landed on a non-descript tower on the edges of the Thames, a neon yellow laser-like light had burst forth and moved as if looking at the nearby area. Amy stood transfixed by the 'search' light, even when the power suddenly cut out and plunged the decimated streets into darkness.

A few moments of complete darkness later, the gloom lifted a little to allow Amy to see a flickering green light, heading straight for her. She began to panic, all too aware she was in an unfamiliar area with virtually no visibility and debris in every direction. The wind was starting to die down but not enough to make any route safe to run blindly along. She turned to move away from the light, hide in the deeper shadows. Before she could even move, her arms were full of what seemed to be a kitten and the Doctor was centimetres from her face. Concentrating on keeping the wiggling creature in her arms, she only managed to catch every other word over the wind as the Doctor gestured at her and then at the creature. Something about stopping the people on the spaceship from taking the creature and then a gadget that would stop them from taking any other lifeforms in their search. He gestured to the tower and waved the sonic in Amy's face, until she understood that he was heading to the building to confront these lifeforms and that she should wait for his signal. She'd know when she saw it, she always did.

Suddenly it was utterly and completely calm. The contrasting silence felt completely alien to Amy, almost like her ears had switched off. Then came a horrifying noise, the sound of metal ripping and smashing glass.

'Run!' The Doctor yelled. She hesitated a second too long as glass cascaded around them, covering Amy's exposed skin in tiny cuts. She looked up at the Doctor – he was focused entirely on something behind Amy to her left.

'Pond! Run! Now!' The Doctor repeated, gesturing violently to his right, away from the building, not taking his eyes away from the source of danger.

She felt rather than heard something smashing into the side of the building as she ran. She stumbled a little on the impact but picked up the pace, trusting that the Doctor would be fine without her.

She ran for what seemed like forever, climbing over obstacles in the dark, praying that the next one wouldn't twist her ankle. The wind picked up again as she ran, blowing dust and dirt into her cuts and more debris into her path.

Heavily bruised and battered, covered in mud from running through at least two parks, including a shallow pond she hadn't seen. Amy was utterly exhausted. She heaved herself and the creature into a nearby bin that she could make out in the dark, propping open the bin lid a little so she could see out onto the street and waited.

In all the running and saving lives and just plain weird stuff that happens to her on a daily basis, it was hard to remember the girl she once was sitting alone in her garden, only dreaming of the possibilities that lay among the stars. Now look at her, an adventurer among the stars! Or in this case, in what she now realises is a downright smelly bin, god knows where, in the middle of London.

\---

Meanwhile, the Doctor stood on the roof of a high-rise building, holding his sonic screwdriver aloft, hoping that Amy had seen his signal and was heading back in this direction. Tendrils of fog were beginning to appear, starting pool at his feet. This was no ordinary London fog. He really hoped she'd get here in time.

Finally spotting her long-awaited cue to move, Amy uncurled herself, grimacing at her trashed clothes. Every muscle screamed at her as she hauled herself and the creature out of the bin and set off towards the blinking light in the distance.

The journey back didn't seem to half as arduous despite much ducking and weaving through the streets, taking detours over and around upturned trees. It wasn't until she came across an accidental archway made of a lorry and an ice cream truck that groaned gently in a light breeze that she'd realised that some backup power was online as there was the odd streetlamp alight here and there that hadn't been smashed up or ripped out of its place in the pavement to provide her with some light. The insanely strong winds had now stopped too, leaving an eerie silence in their wake, punctuated only by the odd police siren in the distance.

Amy continued to trudge through the streets, eventually reaching the building. Now all she had to do was find out where the Doctor had hidden the 'thing with a really long name she couldn't remember'. Her eyes swept over the badly-lit area and locked onto some graffiti on a wall, poking out from behind an upturned recycling bin. Moving closer, Amy smiled. He'd managed to find the time to spray paint her name on the wall nearby in sickly orange capitals with the words 'over here' with an arrow.

Next she had to fight with yet more objects that littered the street to find the peculiar object the Doctor had described to her. He'd apparently built it out of old bean cans but it was definitely bowl-shaped, just like she'd vaguely heard him describe. But now she needed to carry it. This would be a difficult feat, as with each step closer to the building, the little kitten had become more and more agitated, as if saying they should turn back.

As she glanced around for some ideas, all the while attempting to calm the little creature, she thought that the little one reminded her of her best friend from school all those years ago.

'I'm going to call you Rory!' Amy declared to the just about visible nose and big wide yellow eyes in her jacket. On being addressed directly and being given a name, Rory appeared to settle down inside Amy's jacket, releasing a cloud of steam that smelt strongly of bonfires directly into Amy's face as they did so.

Eyes watering, Amy finally spied a flag and some rope tangled in a nearby tree that she could use. She quickly fashioned a bag to sling over her shoulder with the dish inside.

Now at the base of the building, she could see fog almost dripping down the sides of the building. As if the situation wasn't creepy enough already with a bus rammed into the front of the building. Amy straightened her shoulders and marched towards the nearest safe-looking entrance and started to climb towards the flashing light.

Amy crept up the stairs as quickly as she could, she gently stuffing the wiggling troublemaker back into her jacket each time little Rory tried to escape. She paused about 10 flights up to catch her breath, hoisting the makeshift bag into a more comfortable position. Glancing upward at where the stairs disappeared into the darkness, Amy cursed. She still had 7 floors to go before she got to the roof. Anxious to get back to the Doctor, she doubled her speed.

The fog had become opaquer outside the windows, pressing thickly against the glass and was beginning to unnerve Amy. It had started to creep into the building too, she could see vague wisps of it in the air as she climbed higher.

The fog surrounding the Doctor was now so thick he could barely see his screwdriver blinking on the floor in front of him. He didn't really remember dropping it. He tried to move his hands towards it, to pick it up only to find that he could not. It was almost as if the fog had become solid somehow. It was only covering a smallish area now, but he didn't think it would be long before it became more widespread. As it rose up past his face, he could taste the fog on his tongue. Metallic and somehow sweet.

The Doctor grimaced, it was an old reaping method. Had been used by a few questionably moral species across the universe before the Shadow Proclamation had outlawed it on all Level 5 and above planets as barbaric. Once generated, the cloud would seek out life forms and trap them within its clutches until the hunter arrived to dispatch the quarry. From what the Doctor could tell, these lifeforms were planning to collect the energy captured in the fog of trapped people to power their ship and any -solid- remnants were to be sold across the galaxy to the highest bidder as bespoke ingredients or decorations. This fog, the Doctor thought as he tasted it again, seemed designed for capturing humanoid-like forms, as opposed to the kitten-like creature he'd shoved into Amy's arms earlier. Curious.

Amy finally stepped out on to the roof. By now the air was dense enough that it felt like breathing thick treacle.

'Doctor?' She whispered hoarsely.

'I'm here Amy, just follow my voice.'

His voice appeared to be coming from multiple directions at once which left Amy confused. She moved in the direction which she thought was roughly the correct one. She shuffled slowly inching her way across the roof, but with every step she took it became harder to move and harder to breathe.

'Doctor, where are you?' She coughed with each breath.

'I'm here Amy, just follow my voice.'

Amy frowned, there was something not quite right with his voice, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Amy was now moving so slowly she thought that maybe her eyes were playing tricks on her, that she had stopped moving. Sweat was dripping down her back and the makeshift bag was digging into her shoulders as she strained to take just one more step.

The little cat-like creature that had been almost alarmingly quiet and still until this point, so much so that Amy had almost forgotten that little Rory was tucked into her jacket. She panicked, thinking that the creature had suffocated in this fog, she inched down her zip jacket to take a closer look.

She got one final look at those giant yellow eyes and a small flash of fur fly past her face as the creature seized their opportunity and wrested themselves free from Amy's jacket, leaving a vivid red scratch across her collarbone in its wake.

'Rory…. wait! Come back!' Amy coughed and spluttered, struggling to take in a deep breath. 'It's not safe out here'.

The scratch on her chest throbbed as sweat dripped down her neck into the wound. Hissing in pain, Amy continued to inch her way closer to where she thought the Doctor's voice came from.

The Doctor meanwhile, had been concentrating on getting his left hand into his breast pocket. Slowly but surely, he had inched closer, until he could touch the TARDIS key with his finger. After a few moments of fumbling where he almost lost his grip on the key, he had it. Now all he had to do was concentrate for a few more second and he should be able to… Yes!

Moments later, the familiar noise of the TARDIS materialisation began to echo on the rooftop. Once enough of the TARDIS had materialised, the fog's effect wore off and the Doctor collapsed onto the floor of the TARDIS, his breath condensing on the glass around the console as he took a deep lung full of air.

He composed his thoughts as he lay there for a moment, savouring the circulating air available on the TARDIS. Then he heard scratching at the TARDIS door.

"What on earth is that?" The Doctor exclaimed, patting his pockets for the sonic before remembering that he'd dropped it outside. He pressed a couple of buttons on the console to expand the breathable air outside, not wanting to breathe in the fog again. He strode towards the door and opened it to find the little kitten sitting outside the door, looking up at him with those wide yellow eyes.

"Oh! Hello little one! Where's Amy?"

Amy was now on her hands and knees, completely blind in the fog, barely able to breath. The makeshift bag, slowly sliding off her back and cutting painfully into her shoulder. She kept going, slowly putting one hand in front of the other, hoping she'd soon come across the Doctor or at least something that would help.

Just one more step. Only there weren't any more steps to take. Just empty space where ground should be. Her only saving grace was this goddamn fog that had prevented her from falling completely off the side of the building.

But now with her body tilted, the bag was sliding towards her head faster than she could move to stop it. It turns out that it wasn't everything that was stopped by the fog, just her! Well she thought she was stopped, but slowly but surely, she was sinking lower, past the roof of the building and towards the ground, albeit at a barely noticeable pace.

She heard the crunch of footstep nearby and she tried to cry out for the Doctor but found she couldn't make any sound. The rudimentary bag, finally giving up the ghost, slipped off Amy's shoulder and its quarry spilling out on the floor with a loud metallic crash.

Amy hoped that the Doctor was nearby, she thought she could hear the TARDIS but given the way noises echoed in the fog she doubted she was hearing things correctly. The crash had attracted someone though, as dark shapes appeared nearby, getting closer by the second. They appeared to be searching for her as they were closing in on her position rapidly.

Amy took a sharp painful breath in shock as a foot appeared right next to her out of the fog, closely followed by a glinting metal object, slicing through the air above her. Not the Doctor. Her only saving grace appeared to be that they hadn't expected her to be crawling along the floor.

The foot moved away and something small and cold collided with the hand still in contact with solid ground. Aware she only had seconds before they realised their mistake, she inched her hand, slowly, painfully over the object.

It was the sonic!

She clenched her eyes shut and mashed the buttons, hoping for a miracle.

Instead she screamed as the fog released her and she tumbled over the edge of the building. She thought she saw the Doctor as she fell but before the thought could register, Amy collided with something hard in the fog. She started to slide down the side of the contraption and further into the fog. Amy just had time to look over her shoulder at the oncoming window before feeling the surface drop out from beneath her. She collided with the window and sailed straight through in a shower of glass into the room beyond, unconscious before she hit the floor.

The scream ripped through the fog to where the Doctor stood on the threshold of the TARDIS. The Doctor rushed to the edge of the roof to see Amy disappear into the fog cloud, her fearful eyes burning into his. Before the Doctor had time to collect even his rapidly accelerating thoughts, he heard the shattering of glass deep within the fog.

The Doctor rushed back into the TARDIS console. The kitten meowed loudly in his ear from where she'd climbed onto his shoulders.

"Yes, yes I know. But I have to check first." He pet the kitten briefly, before rapidly pressing buttons on the console. After a few tense seconds, his shoulders relaxed a little. The kitten leapt off the Doctor's shoulders and walked across the console purring.

"Amy's alive." The kitten hopped down off the console and trotted towards the TARDIS doors, tail held aloft. The kitten, who the Doctor had discovered insisted upon being called Rory, sat in front of the doors, waiting.

"Don't worry Pond I'm coming to get you!" With one final glance at the console read-out, he followed Rory and stepped out of the TARDIS.

Rory ran ahead into the fog and the Doctor quickly lost sight of her. He quickly became distracted as he noticed on the edge of where the air pocket the TARDIS had made was something he recognised.

"YES POND!" The Doctor exclaimed, picking up the dish and kissing it, grimacing when he remembered where he'd sourced the parts from.

A muffled meow from behind him alerted him to the return of Rory, with the sonic screwdriver in her mouth, looking rather pleased with herself.

"Excellent work Rory, now let us end this and find Amy!"

He scooped up Rory and placed her on his shoulder where she sat like a smug fluffy parrot. Together they walked back into the fog, the sonic screwdriver blasting a route through the thick fog as they went.

\---

"Ow."

An understatement perhaps, but it felt good to be able to speak. It seemed that indoors, the fog wasn't quite so strong. Every breath was now painful for a different reason. Amy suspected she had broken at least one rib in the fall.

She lay still for a moment, gathering her thoughts and assessing the damage. So cracked rib, pounding headache. Gingerly patting her head revealed a bump and a bloody but not too deep gash above her ear but arms and legs still appeared to be functioning. Next step, moving. Sitting up, painful but achievable. Amy tried to stand next, collapsing painfully back to the ground. Ok, so maybe only one functioning foot. The other didn't seem broken but wasn't really doing the whole bearing weight thing.

"Hello!" The Doctor's voice surrounded her.

"Doctor?" She yelled back.

"If you can hear me Pond. Stay where you are, I need you safe." Clearly he couldn't hear her though.

There was a brief pause, she swore she could hear purring. She shook her head to clear her thoughts, regretting it instantly as a wave of nausea swept over her.

The Doctor was stood on an air vent, in a pocket of fog free space, facing toward the spaceship.

"Now. Onto the big baddies. Firstly, how dare you? This is a Level 5 class planet and your methods are banned by the Shadow Proclamation and are simply barbaric. Secondly, you aren't the first beings to try to take this planet. How many do you think have actually succeeded? So, if you're sitting there in your silly little spaceship and you've got any plans on taking over the Earth tonight, I suggest you think again."

There was a rumble from the spaceship. The Doctor heard a tiny whimper close by. That must be Amy.

"Pond? It'll be ok." Amy heard the Doctor from above. He sounded worried.

"Doctor!" A voice wailed. It sounded robotic but more like her voice than she would like.

"Amy! Are you hurt?"

"Doctor? Where are you? I'm scared." The voice continued.

Suddenly the voice screamed and then cut out, echoing around her. Just like before. When she was trying to reach the Doctor on the roof. She hated the fog.

"What have you done to her?" He sounded furious. "If there's one thing you should never do, it's hurt the people I care about. Because there will be no mercy. I hope for your sake that she's still alive. You don't want to be here if she isn't"

Damn it. She needed to get to the Doctor and fast.

"Please be good. Please be the Doctor." Amy muttered to herself as she staggered towards the staircase that felt like miles away. Dragging her herself as fast as should, she could only hope he wouldn't do anything he'd regret before she got there.

The anger raced through his veins; rage present in every feature of his face. Gone were the friendly eyes and nonchalant way he strode about when on an adventure. Every movement was outlined with purpose. The Doctor pointed his sonic towards the towering spaceship peering out of the fog. He needed to stop this fog from spilling out of the machine before he could do anything else. He may be a Timelord, but the fog still influenced him, making it difficult to fight. The longer he left it, the more people it would affect.

It had almost reached street-level and was starting to creep into nearby homes and offices of other tall buildings. He looked down at the readings taken from the sonic. Was it possible to alter the fog chemical make up? But with what?

There wasn't any organic matter nearby other than him and that wouldn't do.

He felt something brush against his leg. He looked down at Rory, who was now purring loudly, winding her way around his legs and generally being a nuisance.

"Oh yes of course." He picked up Rory and showed her the nearby ship. Rory hissed in response.

"Yes I know, the fog is rubbish and gross isn't it. Wait! Of course. Stupid Doctor. Sorry Rory, I was too busy to see what was right in front me!"

He brushed Rory for a few moments until he'd collected a several strands of cat hair and then juggling sonic, Rory and the cat hair, he extracted a small bottle from his jacket pocket and put the cat hairs inside. He leapt off the air vent, collecting the dish from the floor as he went.

Holding the sonic in front of him again, he strode in the fog towards the ship.

Amy propped herself up at the bottom of the stairs. The fog didn't help the situation. It was thicker here. Harder to breath.

Just one more step, she kept telling herself. Just one more.

She hadn't heard the Doctor in a while. She hoped that was a good sign.

She coughed and almost screamed in pain. She bit her lip to stop herself making any noise.

She sat and slowly, agonisingly, pulled herself up step by step towards the roof once more.

The Doctor reached the base of the ship, sonic-ed the bay door and strode over the threshold. He was under no illusion that they likely knew he was there already. He was not in the mood for playing games.

He gently set Rory down on the metal floor and Rory raced off into the fog that seemed to come from everywhere.

"Oi. Who owns this ship? I want a word!" He yelled at no-one in particular.

A barely visible door to his left slid open.

"You're still here. That's one big mistake you're making. Second mistake, letting me onboard."

He slammed the disk onto the nearest console and pointed his sonic at it. Sparks flew and smoke billowed out from the nearest displays.

"Now Rory!"

More sparks flew, a red warning light began flashing and sirens started blaring throughout the ship.

"You see I thought the fog tasted weird. Turns out you've been using this technique so long that you can't exist in any other environment, so you've pumped your ship atmosphere outside your ship. So, we've changed it haven't we Rory! It now contains Cat DNA, and you're allergic! Leave this planet and never come back before I blast it throughout your ship and kill any of you stupid enough to get in my way. It's already altering the fog outside the ship, so you're trapped here. But first, what have you done with Amy?"

With no immediate reply, the Doctor sonic-ed another panel. The ship rumbled around the Doctor.

"Not good enough. Where. Is. She?"

Amy finally reached the top step, vomiting as she crossed the threshold. She wiped her mouth on the back of her hand and gripped the door so she could stand. That was easier than she expected. So easy that she nearly blacked out with the speed that she stood. She swayed for a second, before squaring her shoulders and continuing out onto the roof.

"Doctor? Where are you?"

The fog must be lifting, she remembered barely being able to breath last time. It tasted funny too, now she wasn't worried about being short of breath. Almost like she was at a bonfire?

The Doctor whipped around so fast he nearly smashed his head into a low beam. That was Amy's voice wasn't it? But he'd heard it before, those exact same words.

"Don't you dare play those tricks on me again. It won't work. I know you're manipulating sounds waves to make auditory illusions. Last chance."

The sonic was aimed and ready to go, the Doctor's hand shook. It was the only way to shut down the fog once and for all to find Amy or what was left of her. He owed her that much.

Amy's limp was getting worse, but she was so close. Or at least she hoped so.

Something came racing out the fog at her. She tried to steady herself to fight but stumbled, almost losing her footing on her good leg. Suddenly her arms were full of purring kitten.

"Rory! I'm so glad you're safe!"

Rory then wriggled out of Amy's grasp for the second time today. Looking back to check Amy was watching, Rory turned and walked into the fog.

Amy was sure that the kitten hadn't been this…. human(?) before. A few moments later, Amy spotted the TARDIS light and redoubled her efforts to reach the comfort of the blue box.

"Doctor!"

This time the Doctor was almost sure it was Amy he could hear but he kept the sonic aimed at the disk, waiting for a response.

"Doctor, can you hear me? Don't do this, it isn't you."

Nope. Can't be his Pond. Could it? He couldn't be sure what noises had been her anymore.

Amy stumbled up the stairs to the console, Rory leaping up onto the console as she made the last step.

"Alright, what do I need to press? Help me here, Rory, what does the Doctor do when he yells outside the TARDIS on the communication thingy?"

The Doctor stood stunned for a second. He heard her clear as day inside his head. It sounded so much like her it couldn't be anyone else.

"Pond?"

His voice reverberated through the console. Amy pumped her fist in the air. It worked!

"Thank you, Rory! Doctor? Don't press that button or self-destruct or whatever. I'm here, I'm ok."

"Pond! You're alive!"

"Yeah, have to do better than that to get rid of me!"

Alright. Time for a change of plans.

"Pond? Can you do me a favour? Press that great big silver button on the console. Rory should be able to point it out to you. She's clever that one."

The Doctor cleared his throat and spoke to the room at large.

"Alright. Revised plan. You leave this planet and never return or there will not be any second chances. Surely by now you've looked me up. You know that I don't offer second chances. This planet is protected."

The sirens stopped and the red lights stopped flashing. And a small thunk was heard as something collided with the hull of the ship.

"Ah excellent. That'll be the tracker. It's deadlock sealed to your hull. So, I will know if you ever return. Leave Earth and never look back." The Doctor turned and left the ship, heading back to the TARDIS, to his Pond and little Rory.

Amy turned away from the console, absentmindedly stroking Rory in her arms, and limped towards the TARDIS door. She wanted to see for herself that the ship was gone.

On opening the door, she was greeted nothing but grey. For the briefest of seconds, she thought that the fog was still circulating but no, just a regular grey day in London on top of a grey building. The building rumbled under feet and from behind the TARDIS she saw the same spaceship leave once again. Smiling, she went to walk around the side of the TARDIS in search of the Doctor when Rory meowed loudly in her arms.

"Oh, what's wrong Rory?" Rory looked up at Amy with her big yellow eyes and Amy knew that Rory had to leave. Amy blinked and Rory was gone. All that was left was the faint smell of bonfire lingering in the air.

She looked up and saw the Doctor come into view, having watched the spaceship leave as she had.

On spying her, he rushed forward to meet her, his smile on seeing her rapidly dropped off his face as he got close. He held her at arm's length as he looked at her properly. There wasn't a part of her that wasn't covered in dirt, oil or cuts.

After a beat, they hugged excitedly; glad the other was safe. Amy inhaled sharply as the Doctor accidentally pressed into some of the cuts littered across her arms and chest and from the way she was holding herself he surmised that she had several deeper injuries too.

'I forget how fragile you humans really are…' the Doctor murmured quietly to himself.

They walked back into the TARDIS together in silence. The Doctor walked in and sent the TARDIS into the time vortex. The Doctor broke the silence first.

'Well Pond, there's no time like the present! Let's get those cuts and scrapes attended to!' The Doctor said with false lightness to his voice, clapping his hands.

Amy reluctantly allowed the Doctor to help her to the medical room on the TARDIS. All she wanted to do was a have a nice shower and sleep for about a week. She entered the pristine room, staring at all the weird medical equipment and wondered what it was all used for. She winced as she hoisted herself up onto the nearby bench.

After rummaging in the cupboards, he extracted several things and placed them next to Amy on the bench. The Doctor took a cloth and dipped it in water to wash away the blood from around her head injury. Once he was satisfied it was clean, the Doctor assessed that it didn't need stitches. He then proceeded to try and coat pretty much all of Amy's face in an anti-septic until she ripped it out of her hands and applied it herself.

"Now, sorry Pond, but I need to take a look at those ribs."

For the first time in an age, she felt a little embarrassed as the Doctor helped her gingerly pull off what was left of her shirt to assess the blossoming bruise across her ribs. She sucked in air sharply in trying to remove her arms from the sleeves. After a few moments, she sighed and allowed the Doctor to cut the shirt of off her, leaving her clad in her bra and shorts.

Her tights had given up the ghost a while ago, only scraps of material remaining on her feet where they had been protected by her boots. Though that was to say nothing of the mud that was caked all up her legs.

He gently bathed her wounds, bandaging and sealing the slightly deeper ones as he went; removing most of the mud and debris until she sat mostly dirt free on the edge of the bench. Her muddy boots and destroyed fabric that was her outfit, discarded on the floor nearby.

He talked constantly throughout the process, all about the proper care and attention Amy needed to take of her injuries while they healed. She only heard small snippets of the one-sided conversation as she sat there deep in her own thoughts.

She'd thought of the Doctor as lonely, a little angry perhaps, but always tempered with compassion for others. Today she'd seen a different side to him. The anger burning through him as he faced up against the alien made her understand why his name sent equal measures of fear and hope into people's hearts. She hoped there always someone there to stop him from going over the edge. Amy realised then, that by simply stepping onto the TARDIS, she'd built herself into that role and would do it for as long as the Doctor needed her. She had needed him to show her a world beyond her own, she could only hope to return the favour.

The Doctor interrupted her thoughts as pushed a syringe of a pale orange liquid into her arm.

'Ow! What was that for?' Amy asked, rubbing her arm whilst glaring at the Doctor.

'Well clearly you weren't listening Pond! I was just telling you it was a cure, well not a cure precisely but more of a fast forward for the healing of your broken ribs. Perfectly safe for humans. Although, you might want to watch out for sprouting feathers… that may only apply to species with three eyes. Unless you have a third eye, you're not telling me about?' The Doctor trails off, as he looks closely her face with a questioning look on his face.

She shivered as his cool hands ghosted down her sides checking that the healing process had started. She was exhausted that was all. The Doctor was just being his usual bow tie wearing self, checking up on her. Amy tried to suppress the wave of heat she felt creep into her face as his fingertips skimmed the top of her shorts on their way down her legs, dampened slightly by the fading pain from her ribs. It had just been a while that's all.

As he had been attending to her injuries and speaking of nonsense to fill the silence, he let his mind wander. She was so brave; she acted like she was invincible, just to share the burden with him. He'd forgotten just how fragile she really was. He noted every freckle, scar, birthmark under his hands as he treated her injuries. He noticed her shiver and the flush on her cheeks too, despite the temperature being comfortable for humans. He paused, realising she must be embarrassed before stepping away quickly to look at his feet.

Apparently satisfied that she had only minor bumps and bruises left, he stood and politely looked at his feet, indicating she could leave. She blushed again as she realised he was pointedly looking at the floor so she could leave without feeling anymore embarrassed.

As she left, the Doctor let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. He busied himself tidying, ignoring the tingling in his fingertips. Her resilience amazed him, at every turn she kept up with him.

"Doctor?" Came a quiet voice from the open doorway, interrupting his thoughts. He turned to face Amy, now in a modest dressing gown, a trace of embarrassment still lingering on her face.

"Umm… could you possibly help me wash my hair? I… I can do the rest fine; I just can't reach that far." Amy demonstrated by attempting to lift her arms up and wincing as she stopped at shoulder height.

"Anything for you Pond! I'm just glad you're on the mend!" The Doctor replied cheerfully, ignoring the nagging feeling in his gut that this wasn't going to make anyone's lives easier in the long run. As they left the medical bay and headed towards the nearest bathroom, the Doctor filled the quiet with his usual spouting of knowledge.

"Did you know the little miscreant that we spent all day looking after? She is the future ancestor of Cat-kind, a race of humanoid cats. She loved the name Rory by the way."

"I did wonder how you knew the name I gave the kitten." Amy replied.

"I speak cat."

Amy laughed.

"Of course, you do Doctor. Of course, you do."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So confession time - this is as far as my original plan got! So from here I'm kind of winging it! The good news is there will be more modern songs


End file.
